Thanksgiving Tid Bits

Off to NH

Those bags are as big as they are, but they insisted on pulling them. Good by me!

Tractor rides with Grandpa. So Charlie was laying on the floor of the bedroom, cuddling her blankets and Grandpa found her like that. He asked her if she was tired and she said, "Yes, but I would totally not be tired if I was sitting on the tractor!" HA! And there you have it.

Ooooo....trying on flower girl dresses for Auntie Jen's wedding in May! FUN.

The mob.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I took very few pictures...I am relying on bros and sis-in-laws to provide me with decent pics! I guess I was too busy eating...

Delaney and Katie

One of many productions put on by the grandkids.

Hayride!

Yo Dave.

Someone's a little tuckered out.

Grandma's Part-ay

Happy 60th Birthday, Mom! We love you!

Grandpa flew all the kids and grandkids in for the celebration! What a sweet guy...
Plus a few of mom's friends made it up for the afternoon too!

Time for a little Grandma spoiling. She's well overdue!

It only took us, what? 10 years? but we finally got Grandma the coveted grandkids necklace. Patience is a virtue. (I seem to be saying that a lot lately...) I think she loves it.

On the left, wearing the necklace. On the right, checking out her "60 things that remind us of you" shadow box. She was in heaven.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM! Thanks for all you've done!

An early Christmas present

What a treat! Cassidy took the girls, along with Armani, to Disney on Ice last weekend!

Entraced by dancing princesses.

Belle, Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel, Jasmine, Mulan, Sleeping Beauty, Pocohontas...they all made an appearance.

Thanks Cassidy! We have some starry-eyed girls here. They LOVED it!

I called it.

actually, the weatherman did. but I listened.

they may look warm. but under those smiles lies 4 frozen hands and 4 frozen feet.

Last Hurrah

I absolutely love fall. It's not just the colors (which are actually very lacking here compared to New England); but there's something about the smell that I love too...and the crumple of leaves.
Charlie and I played at Beus Park for a few minutes this morning. Hard to think these beautiful 60 degree temperatures will be a thing of the past come tomorrow morning. So she had one last hurrah with her bike and I got to enjoy the fallen leaves before they are covered by snow.

Dancing in the leaves...a girl after my own heart.

It's no secret...this is my true identity:

A nerd to the core

Our friends the Reeses had to postpone their Halloween party last week due to the swine flu hitting home...so last night we dressed up and danced on over for a post Halloween party! It was very fun!


That poor little guy had to hold Jason on his shoulders ALL night. Tough gig. Here are Lori and David Rees in their 70s discowear! I LOVE IT!

Jason was a little disturbed at how comfortable I am as a full-fledged nerd! And the little boys were attacking the little man...they loved it though...they awarded Jason the grand prize!


The girls were all lined up waiting to hear to whom the little boys would give awards...geesh...that doesn't seem fair! They were pretty diplomatic though. They each ended up with AT LEAST a "most creative costume" award, so they felt pretty special.

She looks so calm and sweet...and POW! There she goes. Cuttin' a rug. Rippin' it up. (That is her signature move, by the way. She owns it. And, on the right, when in doubt, just jump. Calves of STEEL, I tell you.)

How funny is this? Here we come Sturgis! And over here, the scarecrow (Lori's sister Jill) and her daughter as Dorothy. Very cute.

We danced til the kids collapsed. Even Berkley breakdanced a little. It was a successful night. And super fun to boot.

Happy Halloween

Rosetta, the red-headed fairy (from Tinkerbell) and a 3-yr-old bride. (Hey, it's Utah!)

What girls...so happy to have their hair done, dresses worn, and "makeup" on (lipgloss and sparkles!) When I was tucking her into bed, Berkley said, "I don't want Halloween to end." I can learn a lot from my 5-year-old...to be that content and carefree again.

The girls went trick-or-treating with Cate again this year and had a wonderful time. This time, the dads brought them around. The moms got to hand out candy. I have to say, it was my first time staying home...and it's just not that fun. I think Jason is more suited for it. I'm a boring candy-hander-outer.

They did a great job of bringing home a couple pounds of candy for their mom and dad to enjoy! ohhh...I'm such a mean mom. Don't worry; they'll get to have some.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Rock Out

(If you're wondering about the whole wedding dress and a guitar thing...she's going for Taylor Swift in "Love Song"...honestly. This was completely pre-meditated.)

Umm....girls?

...there's something missing from this picture. Snow angels?

I think the girls were a little overly excited at this morning's dusting.

Little Bit Like a Broken Record

I guess all we do is ride bikes!

Charlotte peddles her little heart out, but can't quite keep up with the big guys.

And they're gone!

Team Sunflower

Timea, Sidney, and Berkley...the ferocious Sunflowers! (and usually Cate too!)

We scored! (A lot this game -7 or 8 times, one of which was by your favorite redhead!)

Getting ready for a kickoff and a throw-in.

(It totally looks like Berkley's about to score here -on the right- but it's actually Sidney's kick!)

We love soccer!!!

This is the last of the soccer pics for the fall - see you next Spring!

Kindergarten Perks

Berkley needed a backpack upgrade! Apparently, her school things were too big for her little preschool pack, so (thanks to Grandma with the stairs) here she is sporting her new "wheels!" (She's been begging for wheels for 2 years now!) Patience is a virtue.

Finally Fall!

Friends til the end

From smiles to tears -- those "friendly" ducks scared her right out of her pants!

Off to the Pumpkin Patch

Charlotte's class took a field trip to Farmer Lyle's Pumpkin Patch today. It was a perfect fall day...for Utah!
She looooooves to ride the school bus! (This is Farmer Lyle below.)

Charlotte and her little friend Samantha.

Which to pick? Which to pick? Found it!

It's not heavy. It's my pumpkin!

Butterfly Faces

My friend Molly's daughter Ruby turned two and had a super fun halloweenish dance party!
The girls really enjoyed it...especially getting their faces painted with butterfly eyes! Happy 2nd Birthday Ruby!

(She's Dorothy, above.)

There is no title

Ok, ok...I really did like the old new background. I just couldn't read anything. I think my eyes are going. The curse of the thirty-one year-old. This is much simpler. And easier to read. And allows for more pictures. I'll see if I can spice it up in the near future. For now, we're boring. Boring is under-rated anyway.

Zoo Babies

Berkley's kindergarten class took a field trip to the zoo to see the baby elephant, Zuri. There's a really cute video of Zuri on YouTube somewhere...

Berkley, Cate, Jaxton
Bode, Matthew, Conner, Curtis, Vic, Katie, Madison


Berkley and her bff Cate.



"Mommy, I just don't wanna stop looking at that baby elephant."

Zuri is adorable.

Camels and Cate and Kim

Intently reading the zoo maps.

Peacocks and zebras, one of Berkley's faves.

Look at the baby giraffe! One of the monkeys had a baby too, but my picture came out poorly (glass + flash = glare).

(We were glad the tiger was sleeping.)

A chilly, but fun day.

Skip to My 'Lou

I indulgently took a trip to St. Louie last weekend to see some dear friends. It was a great pick-me-up, something I've needed for a while.
However, I did a terrible job taking pictures - these are the only ones I took - all in the first day I was there!

Evelyn Rouland (and duckie).

Ellie, Elise, Aria, and Joel

I'm impessed they all looked over at me considering they were in the middle of CUPCAKES. yumyum.

And little Corbin Garrett (with Dion). Isn't he cute? Oh, and the baby's adorable too. haha. That's a total Jason comment.

Thanks for a great time Megan, Christy, and Jocelyn! Guess I'll just have to come back to get a picture with you three! Darn.

Odds and Ends

This is a pretty random post, but I haven't really had much to "write home about."


This is how you'll see the girls most evenings. We're really into Little House on the Prairie!


I think Charlie was catching up to Berkley too quickly for her own liking; she asked to try her bike withOUT training wheels! We've got a lot of work to do here though...


Literally overnight, we went from summer to early winter. And this happened on September 30th! Oh how I miss fall!

This was just a quick hail storm, but we've had frost just about every night now for a week and all my blooming flowers have died.

Bikes and Blooms

Big girls on their bigger bikes

here duckie, duckie, duckie...

And a garden follow-up for my Mom:

the flowers finally filled in on the island and the walkway.

Confessions of a change-aholic

It's true. I enjoy change. I love change. Dare I say, I thrive on change. For a while, things were changing all the time. If we weren't moving, we were having a baby. When we were having a baby and I couldn't change my wardrobe, I would change my hair. Or my footwear. Or both. It's a deadly addiction really, cause you can't keep up with it. Ever. No matter how hard you try. It's kind of like trying to keep up with fashion. Or interior design. Those dynasties were made for people like me. Suckers for change.

Though, can you blame me? It is rather refreshing to look at a room in your home in a different light. Or go for a different look in your everyday garb. And I might even go so far as to say that, for we "homemakers", it keeps the creative juices flowing; it fills the need for some concrete productivity; it helps stylize the mommy-side.

At any rate, my blog needed a change, so here you have it. A blog makeover and a confession.

Faces of fall (...well, almost...)

look who's graduated from a tricycle!

The Art of Switching Swings:

ta-da!

look who's trying now... (ow...that looks like it hurts!)

Game Face

It only took a year, but the first game of the season seemed promising.
Berkley's starting to show her animal side...maybe it's because her dad is the coach.



(LOVE this one!)



I'm sad I wasn't there to see it, but I can't wait until next Saturday.
Thanks to the Schmelings for the pics!

Charlie's Birthday Party

Her FIRST party with friends...and she decided to go with the flower theme. I guess I just have a couple of garden girls.

Could we be more excited? Not possible.

bubbles galore

PRESENTS

(Charlotte came up to me after about 45 minutes and said, "Actilly, I'm weddy for my presents now mama." She'd been patiently waiting for this moment for soooo long!)

Gwynie showing her how the barbies kiss. :)

Berkley made her a card and gave her purple flipflops

Riley, her buddy from Sunday school, picked out a sparkly pink purse full of makeup and bracelets! Right on, Riley!

With Brevin

And Armani

And Cate -- "Mom - a bride dress! Like Berkley's!"

(Armani and Cate technically are Berkley's friends, but Charlie thinks of them as just as much her own!)

Thanks, Cate.

Flower power

My girl

And a little more bounce-house fun for good form.

Happy Birthday, Charlotte!

Armani, Brevin, Berkley, Gwyn, Cate, Charlie, and Riley.

Max opted to keep sliding.

Psst...

I was waiting for everone to leave so I could WEAR this!

"I'm FREE!!!!"

And she doesn't mean cheap! Charlotte turned THREE today!


Ready for church...
(where, much to Charlie's delight, daddy mentioned her in his sermon!)


Ready for presents...

Ready to play a little gee-tar! (Do you think we'll be regretting this?)

Thanks for the fairy books, G & G!

Okay, so we used the cake I made for her party yesterday...I don't think she cared.

And now it's time for a concert.

hApPy BiRtHdAy, ChArLiE!