Haylie's 4th Birthday

Haylie turned 4 on December 1st. She was pretty sure that she would all of the sudden be able to read and tie her shoes on the day she turned 4. Luckily the excitement of her party made her forget because she would have been disappointed. She chose a puppy party at our apartment for her party. I kept my homemade cake tradition up with a puppy cake and managed to keep 6 little girls occupied for an hour and half for the party. We played Pin the Tail on the Doggie and Doggie Doggie Where is your Bone. Here are some current facts about Haylie. She loves dogs and puppies. She still pretends that she is a dog but not quite as often. She knows all the letters and sounds, can rhyme, and even spell some words with a little help. She loves to go to preschool and often asks us to raise our hand if we want something and not call out. At least she is learning the rules if nothing else! She loves to play with Polly Pockets, Barbies, her brother Zander, and her newly acquired Littlest Pet Shop toys. We love you Haylie!!

Family Pictures

We got our family pictures taken over Thanksgiving by my niece, Janelle. She is pretty talented and is awesome for doing it for us, especially since our kids are not exactly the easiest to take pictures of. I don't think Zander actually held still once!

Thanksgiving...a little late!

We spent Thanksgiving with my parents and some of my family members in Perry, UT. My whole family goes there every other year for Thanksgiving but this was the off year so it was just a few of us. My brother Darin, us, my niece Janelle and her roommate, and my parents were there for Thanksgiving and then by brother Ryan and his wife Arika and their baby Afton came on Friday. It was a fun and relaxing weekend. We played lots of games, and lots of delicious food and had lots of good laughs. The only down side was that Haylie was sick the entire time we were there. She got sick on Tuesday and we thought she was better on Wednesday afternoon so we loaded up and went. We walked in my parents house and she looked and everyone and then proceeded to throw up all over me. It is times like these that I realize just how glamorous my life is. Cleaning up all kinds of bodily fluids is really the ultimate display of love for someone. It is a good thing that when you become a mother you get some sort of super power to deal with totally gross things as long as it if from your own offspring!

Getting ready for dinner

Poor sick Haylie. At least I got a nap too!
Haylie perked up a little for dinner.

Honesty List

My friend Rebecca passed this on to me and after reading her list I thought it might be fun to do so here we go.

Honesty-list ten honest things about yourself.

1. I am a terrible housekeeper. I don't quite understand myself because if I know I have someone coming over I can clean the house in record time but if it is just my family things can get pretty ugly before I find motivation to clean. I feel so much better in a clean house so I don't know why I don't make it more of a priority. Maybe it is the two tornadoes that follow me around undoing everything I do!

2. I have an amazing memory for song lyrics. Especially dorky jingles from old commercials and TV Shows and songs from my childhood. I often sing them when they are in my head. It drives Dave crazy but I don't do it to bother him, they are just in my head!

3. I cried at the beginning of each school year until I was in 9th grade. I would try to explain why but there really is not a good reason. I just pray that I don't have any children like myself. My mom and dad are wonderful people for putting up with it. I always thought as a teacher I would be more understanding of my students on the first days of school but I was surprisingly impatient.

4.I regret not playing volleyball in college. I had an opportunity and didn't take it because at the time I was completely burned out on volleyball. If I would have known all the different ways I would be involved in it later in my life I think I would have pursued playing.

5. I would rather inconvenience myself than someone else. I don't like to ask for help and there have been many times when I think "why didn't I just ask for some help?"

6. I could take a nap everyday. This was great when I had two kids that napped everyday. I could catch a few minutes to re-energize myself. I am probably a little lazy, but sometimes 2:00 rolls around and I can barely keep my eyes open. I must have inherited this from my dad. He is the greatest napper that ever lived!

7. I have a glass of milk almost every night before I go to bed. Ok, since this in an honesty list, I also have a little treat with my milk, some cookies or a brownie. In fact, I should be getting some right about now...

8. I am not sure if I want to be a classroom teacher anymore. I loved my days of teaching, and I am good at it, but I also think I could be happier doing something else. I am not a good classroom manager. I like the theory a lot more than the practice.

9. I wish I didn't care what people thought of me but the truth is that I do. I have noticed that as I get older it matters to me less and less. I always wonder, but spend a lot less time worrying about it these days!

10.I have an unreasonable fear of spiders. Since I have children to protect now I have become a lot more brave and don't freak out quite as much. I hate squishing them worse than seeing them. When I was growing up and would get home after my parents were in bed I remember waking my dad up to come kill a spider for me. Luckily Dave has pity on me and kills them when he is around now.

There you go. That was kind of fun. I pass this on to whoever want to try it out. Another honest fact about myself--I hate making decisions so I don't know who to pick! Just do it if you want!

Halloween

The kids had a great Halloween this year. Haylie is still trying to figure out what the story is with all of the creepy things associated with Halloween. I have answered a million questions about why mummies are all wrapped up, why witches are green and fly on brooms, and why would a walking skeleton be scary. She is such a critical thinker and my lame answers hardly satisfied. We did find time to have some fun and celebrate. We started on Monday night with some pumpkin carving. Haylie designed her pumpkin and was quite proud of it. Zander was just interested in feeling the slimy guts. On the day of Halloween we went with our friends the Bohman's downtown for a Halloween Carnival. They had trick or treating at some of the businesses and then little games for the kids to play. It was a beautiful day and the kids had fun. Zander was not a fan of his lion costume but once the candy started coming he was a bit more forgiving of it. Haylie was a witch. She loved the costume and she even had a scary witch cackle which she informed was to loud to do while she was trick or treating.

In the afternoon, we went to the lamest trunk or treat ever, then did the traditional trick or treating that night. Dave stayed home to man our door and the kids and I went with a couple of girls from the ward with their kids. They had a great time and I look forward to when the kids are a little older and I can just wait on the sidewalk instead of loading and unloading the kids from the wagon at every house! The pictures are out of order but technology hates me tonight so they will have to do for now.

Bring on the candy!

Dave getting ready to vaseline a pumpkin. Supposedly it makes them last longer.

Haylie was very proud of her pumpkin.

Haylie overseeing the carving of her design

Ew...gross

On main street in Price.

That was quite a load for one wagon!

18 Months

Zander turned 18 months old on the 10th of October. It is funny how life works--Zander has been the baby and that is how I have thought of him, and then gradually, right under my nose, he has grown up! He has so much personality! He makes me laugh every day with the new things that he comes up with. He loves to do whatever Haylie is doing. We have started letting him do the same bedtime routine as Haylie so as soon and you even mention brushing teeth he drops what he is doing and heads for the bathroom. He also will drop everything when you mention feeding the fish, another bedtime ritual. It is amazing how much he understands about the world around him. He has a ball popper that blows balls up in the air that he is completely obsessed with. He will push the button to turn it on over and over again and then, just like his mechanically minded dad, he looks in this hole and that, stops the ball here and there, just trying to figure out how everything works. He literally shakes with excitement while it is running. He loves anything involving a ball or a vehicle, including motorcycles, or "cycles" and he calls them to his dad's delight. Here are some shots of Zander doing some big boy things. What a cutie pie he his! Lately Haylie has been the subject of most of my posts so this one is just for the Z man!

Playing Play-doh.

Eating Breakfast. We recently put the high chair in storage and now he sits in the booster seat at the table. (Haylie took this picture)
He climbs up on the slide on Haylie's bed. This time it was to see the fishy.

Joining in the family tradition of popcorn and movie night.

New Friends

One of the biggest reasons that we hated to leave Boise was having to leave behind so many wonderful friends. The biggest thing that I have learned through the experience of moving is that Heavenly Father has a plan for us, and when we are obedient He will provide for us. This time he provided in the form of a family in our ward, the Bohmans. Just when I was ready to back up and go back home, a knock came on our door. It was Bonnie (the mom) with a plate of cookies. It turned out she has a girl named Haylee, just a few months younger than our Haylie and a boy named Max who is just one month younger than Zander. As we have gotten to know each other have learned many other similar interests the biggest of which is that we both love volleyball. We have been trying to find people to play with. They probably don't know it but they have been a huge blessing to me.
In Boise we were in a babysitting swapping group that allowed us to go out a couple times a month and watch kids on other weeks. We started the same kind of thing with the Bohman's and it has been great. We even combined the kids last week and got a babysitter so we could go out together and get to know each other better. Here are some pictures of the kids playing on the first night we watched them. They have a great time together.

Zander and Max in the sandbox.

The big sisters helping in the sandbox

Haylie and Haylee taking their horses for a ride.

Matching names and bikes!

Preschool

Haylie started preschool on September 8th at the Munchkin Manor Preschool. She spent the whole summer telling me that she didn't want to go to preschool or that she wasn't big enough. I could tell her resolve was weakening though as we bought her backpack and got the paperwork in the mail telling us what session she would be in. When the day finally came she was so excited she could hardly contain herself. She was rubbing her hands together and saying, "I am so excited to go to school!" So far she loves it. She already knew all the letters and the sounds they make before she started but she is excited to be learning the sign language for each letter. Here are some shots of her on the first day before we left for school. The picture above is in front of the shool.

Appreciation

Last week Dave worked 57 1/2 hours. That is 17 1/2 extra hours that I am by myself with the kids. This morning I dropped Dave off at the airport to fly to Florida for a weeks worth of training. Again a week where I am playing the role of single parent. It is times like these that I realize just how much Dave does for me and the kids everyday. Sometimes I get caught up in the monotony of the tasks of every day that I start thinking that I am doing everything to care for the kids. So, as much as I don't enjoy being on my own, I am grateful for the opportunity every now and then so that I can appreciate again what a great father my children have. He is a great teacher, makes a wonderful jungle gym, and loves to spend time with our family. Thank you Dave! We love you and miss you when you are gone.

"I am riding a bike!"

Haylie finally washed enough dishes to earn herself a new bike! Just kidding...she did have to earn it with good behavior but washing dishes isn't a chore for these kids! Both she and Zander love to wash the dishes. They both cry if they see I am doing it and they aren't getting to help.


Haylie earned a new bike by filled a jar up with "gems" that she gets when she does good things. The first day she got on it she kept saying, "I'm riding a bike!" She had some trouble remembering which way to push the pedals so as soon as she would say that she would put the brakes on and stop. It was funny and as you can see from the pictures, she is very proud of herself and even had no problems passing the trike on to Zander, who can't reach the pedals quite yet.

Zander on the tricycle.

Getting ready to ride!

"I'm riding a bike!"

Pure joy...

and satisfaction

Another action shot.

We bought the bike and helmet at about the same time we bought a backpack for Haylie to start preschool with. That was a big shock to realize that she is old enough to ride a two wheel bike and be getting ready for school. She starts preschool on the 8th of September. I will post up the details of how it goes.