A good ending to a bad beginning

This actually happened on Monday and I typed this on Tuesday and then got too busy to attach pictures, then decided not to post it but I am posting it just as a reminder for me to be less of a task-oriented person and focus more on the needs of others. We still accomplished the "important" things like homework and reading but we all felt more united and closer as a family and made memories, which when it all come down to it is the important things! I am so lucky to have Joe to remind me of that on a regular basis!
Yesterday morning was bad. Start with no naps for Brenna and Braelynn the day before + bad night for Brenna (What is with the bad dreams all of a sudden?)= Tired and cranky 2 year old. Samantha + drama over her clothes to wear to school = Samantha in tears and mom loosing her temper and yelling. Multiply that by other various other incidents with various other children. Factor in the fact that Joe has been working nights for the last month with not a lot of days off.
We were in desperate need for some family time.
Joe being the amazing father that he is suggested a quick after-school fishing trip to a lake only 8 miles away and a picnic dinner. It was just fun. Fun and relaxing. The picnic was different but yummy. We are trying to make every penny stretch, so that means making a picnic dinner with only the items we had on hand.
Chicken sandwiches with leftover chicken from Sunday's dinner. Jello-Cottage Cheese salad with cottage cheese my mom had given me that needed to be used up and berries we still had in the freezer that we picked in Idaho. Carrots for nutrition (which I forgot). Finish it up with homemade chocolate cream cheese cupcakes and Capri-Suns that were left over from a summer trip!

You don't see this everyday...

Just once a year in Cedar City Utah!


A bunch of sheep being herded down Main Street is part of this weekends festivities as part of the Livestock and Heritage Festival.
The older kids were practicing for their primary program tomorrow so they weren't able to see the parade and I got too busy talking to my friend Melanie (in the picture with Brenna) to take more pictures, but I am throwing in a picture of Brenna and Braelynn just for fun.


Brenna was really intent on the sheep, if you couldn't tell from the picture!

Happy 12 Years

Today marks our 12th wedding anniversary! What more in life do you need than to be be married to your best friend for time and eternity?

Not Babies Anymore

You know the moment when you look at your child and realize that they aren't little anymore? I had one of those moments last week so I thought I would document some of the little personality traits of Brenna and Braelynn that I don't want to forget.
Brenna likes everything to be in a straight line, the magnets on the fridge, any toys she is playing with, even her balls she made out of play dough need to go in a straight line.


Braelynn is very much an imitator. She now holds story time on a regular basis in our living room. She sets up books and then picks them up one at a time and reads them to whoever might be in the room just like the ladies do at the library story time.
She in the last week and a half has become really sensitive to the fact that she is Braelynn, not Brenna and will correct you. Even if you are really talking to Brenna and she thinks that you are talking to her, she will tell you "I Nanyn.".



They talk all the time! Anyone that has a two year old will understand what I am saying. The down side is that there are two of them and that means two mouths with words coming our all the time, the up side is that they also talk to each other, not just to me.

Tagged!

Melissa tagged me, so here are my eights!

8 Shows I Love To Watch
(I don't really watch tv, except in the evenings after bedtime, and we don't have DVR or cable or anything so most of these are shows I always want to watch but don't usually sit down to watch.)

*Rachael Ray
*ER
*Super Y
*Everybody Loves Raymond reruns
*King of Queens reruns
*Good Things Utah
*Biggest Looser
*The news

8 Favorite Restraunts

*Olive Garden
*Applebees
*Wingers
*Costa Vida
*Outback
*Chilis
*Jimmy Johns
*Red Robin

8 Things That Happened Yesterday

*Did my kickboxing class at the Gym (I love free membership!)
*Made homemade playdough and clay with the kids
*Helped Tyler with his school project
*Went grocery shopping
*Folded laundry
*Had FHE
*Proofread Veronica's letter to the First Lady
*Made dinner

8 Things I Look Forward To
*Date with Joe
*12th wedding anniversary
*Thanksgiving
*Girls Night Out
*Game night with friends
*This weekend's parade
*Kids' primary program
*Veronica being old enough to babysit

8 Things I Love About Fall

*Pumpkin desserts
*Thanksgiving
*Falling leaves
*Cool weather
*Pumpkin picking
*Warm socks and sweats
*Turning on the heater for the first time
*Crisp morning air

8 Things On My Wish List
*A bigger house
*A new job for Joe
*A bigger car so that the kids can take friends on outings with us
*Room for food storage
*For my loved ones to always be strong in the gospel
*New entertainment center and a nice couch
*Trip to the temple with Joe
*Vacation anywhere new, maybe a cruise

8 People I Tag
JaLee, Brenda, Sarah, Diane, Vera, Brie, Cristie, Jeanette,

Sams Hair

Samantha made me promise that I would take and post pictures of her hair today...so here they are. Of course Brenna and Braelynn had to get involved, too. The question of the day for Sam was is that a headband or a braid? Yes it is her hair braided then sewn in with a ribbon. Crazy, huh?

Pumpkin Picking

My favorite Halloween activity is always the trip to the Judd Pumpkin Patch. We have been going there since we first found out about it when Veronica went there for a field trip in preschool, about 7 or 8 years ago.
We took advantage of beautiful weather and picked pumpkins, then on the way home stopped by a park and played.
It started out as a joke a few years ago when Veronica, Tyler and Sam were all small that the kids had to be able to carry their pumpkin that they picked out, so that explains some the of pictures.

A Good Night

Tonight was a good night. The kids are out of school until Tuesday so we ditched bedtime and played hokey from nightly reading. No football or violin lessons or scouts or anything.
Beautiful evening so that means neighborhood kids playing football in the backyard.
Veronica's party (late nights is what they call them), two of her closest friends came, lots of giggling! So grateful that she is blessed with good friends that have good standards. What every mom wants for her kids, especially at this age. So important.

Another great thing about being a twin...

Is having someone your exact weight and height to play teeter-totter with!
I took this picture amost a month ago but remembered it while I was watching them "catch" each other going down the slide yesterday at the park. They don't need to be caught any more, but oh well!

Hair, Hair, and More Hair

I think I created a monster-a hair monster, that is. My sister, Brenda, sent me an email a few weeks ago about a blog full of ideas for cute hairstyles. Samantha and I checked it out, thinking it would be fun to do every once in a while.
She is so addicted. Every morning when she gets up she says "Mom, if I get ready really fast can we do my hair fancy?"
She soaks up all the attention and comments that she gets from all the teachers and her friends, even complete strangers we see while out and about. Last week when I was helping in her class, I ate lunch with her in the cafeteria and had three people ask for the blog address!
I tell myself every morning that I will take a picture of her hair to post it but haven't done it yet, but the blog is http://hair4myprincess.blogspot.com if you are interested. On her sidebar are links to other hair blogs. If you have a girl, you might like to check them out!

A Winning Smile

Yea for Veronica!!! She got her braces taken off yesterday! She started out with a very deep overbite but now...I must say, she looks very nice!
We celebrated with a big batch of caramel popcorn, a family favorite which she couldn't really eat very well before, and then next week she is having her friends over for a party complete with caramel, laffy taffy, and the like
She also had her first middle school orchestra recital yesterday which she did very good in. They really did sound good, at least for a middle school orchestra!
Joe has my camera on a field trip with Tyler's class so I will post pictures later.