I love that it was a mild November!

I'm convinced that jumping in the leaves is one of the greatest childhood joys there are. We have a lot of trees at our house, but because John is super busy and I am lazy and still not feeling very well, we didn't rake those, just mowed them up! Our church though, is wonderful, lots of big trees and someone else had put them in a pile for us. So Sydney asked one day if we could go up there and jump in the leaves. This tree was the best because they could jump out of the tree and land in the leaves. Dave was a little nervous, and John helped him a little, but Sydney is fearless!

Burying Dad was a highlight for them as well!

By the way, I know you guys don't care, but I do: They started putting in the lines for high-speed internet here! Yeah! Hopefully soon, it won't take me an hour to do a post, and when I try to make comments on your blog, it will work!

Halloween!

I have to say that John's outfit is my favorite for Halloween, but the kids were cute too. These pictures were from a party a week earlier. I don't know what happened on Halloween, but we said let's go take pictures, and the next thing I knew we were home from trick-or-treating and the kids were out of their costumes and I didn't have any pictures. Oops! On Halloween, Sydney wore my veil, and looked beautiful. David was a cowboy sometimes, and other times trading his cowboy hat for a hard hat and being Bob the builder. It worked.

For dinner we had Goblin tongues (bagels with bologna), eyeballs (carrots with olives) and monster mouths (apples with candy corn teeth). It was fun. Sydney had a great time making dinner.

Annoucement!

Sydney jumped up and down, and David cried and said, "Me want a boy, me want a boy." Well, I guess you just can't please them all!

First Day of School

Sydney was so excited for school! She was ready at 9:00 a.m. even though she doesn't go until 12:15 p.m. She is loving every minute of school, and told me on Saturday that she wishes that they had started school on Monday instead of Wednesday so she could have gone more days. I assured her there would be plenty of days to come. She is really bright and has picked up reading really easily! What a girl. Dave was not wanting to leave Sydney in the classroom, well I think it was really leaving all of those toys. I told him you have to be 5 to go to school, so he likes to tell me he's 5. Then I told him you couldn't be in diapers, and he started wearing underwear. He is doing really good at not having accidents. I would love to not have a kid in diapers for awhile. It's been over 5 years since I haven't. Just a side note for those who worked at SUU with me, Sydney's teachers name is Alene Larsen, kind of funny!

A new post!!!

Okay so for the inquiries, yes this baby has caused me turmoil the last few months. My first trimester is done though, and there is some relief. I am hoping to feel all the way better really soon. This is John with my birthday cake. He was great, he made me a cake and had a party, all while I laid on the couch and felt gross! He was such a great husband this summer, he just played the role of Dad and Mom and let me be sick.

Sydney was the first attendant in our little towns Royalty. Now before you start wondering what happened to the Sara you knew who would never really enter her children in a beauty contest, just know that they put all kids name into a hat and draw out the royalty!! She got to ride in a float and wear a crown she was in heaven!

We are very excited to announce . . . .

Happy Birthday Dave!

Dave's birthday was on the 30th. We had a good day, and his cake was finished and looked too good apparently, because Dave dipped into it a little early. He was given lots of good things, and is still enjoying it all! I can't believe my little boy is 3!

The Painting is Done!!

We are done with the painting yeah! It took hours every day for about 3 weeks, but it is done. This was the living room before


And this is it after, it turned out just the way I wanted it, well with the exceptions of things that would cost a lot more money :)


The yellow in the kitchen (I know lousy picture but it was all I could do with the light). I love the yellow in the day, at night it turns a really ugly fluorescent. Hmmm. But I am so sick of painting that it will probably stay for awhile. (Thanks Aleath for the curtains, I finally put them up!)



I also painted a wall in my room blue which I love and John is not too sure about, it's not a very good picture either but you can imagine. I just ordered a new headboard, and need to find something nice to put above the bed. I am open for suggestions.

So to all who are wondering, sorry about the lack of posts, but my Internet is so dumb and doesn't really let me post very well anymore. It's just dial up and it stinks. So with that and it being summer and schedules messed up, my posts might be sporadic. But I still love reading yours so blog on!

Swimming lessons

My kids just finished swimming lessons yesterday. They did really well. I was a little nervous the first day when Dave screamed the whole time and wouldn't get in the water. The second day he ran in and has loved it ever since. His teacher was great. Sydney also did wonderful, she even jumped off the diving board 4 times (all with a life jacket and her teacher catching her, but it was a big improvement). All in all it was a good couple of weeks, the kids want to do lessons again 'really really really soon'.

Where have I been?

I have received a few inquiries as to my whereabouts. I don't know where the last few weeks have gone honestly. We had Sydney's birthday and then John's birthday. We went camping at fish lake. It was so cold, and it snowed on us! Since there were no campgrounds with hook-ups left, I told John I wouldn't make my kids sleep in the trailer without heat in the middle of a snowstorm so we stayed in a hotel. It was great. Although, now Sydney tells people we camp in hotels. Oh well! There was a boy scout troop there in tents, but I'm not sure how they didn't freeze! Now my new project that is consuming me - Painting my house! It has been a long process, and I am not even close to done. My living room is almost! I love my new accent wall though and can't wait to put curtains and cute stuff on the wall. I wish all of you who are so good at decortating were here to help, but wish me luck.

As a side note, does anyone know anyone who works or attends Rowland Hall? Thanks!

Happy Birthday Sydney

Yesterday was Sydney's birthday! She got up in the morning and we were talking and I'm sure it was my imagination but she seemed so old. She wanted a princess party (don't all 5 year old girls). We actually had her party last Thursday with her friends. I made a crown cake for her, it was a pain to make, but it was worth it when her little face lit up when she saw it. She had a few friends come over in their dress ups and play. Sydney has been planning her party for months. Every night when we would put her to bed she would stay up and plan details. She is funny.

Yesterday, we told her she could plan the day. In the morning she played with her friend, then we went to McDonalds for lunch. She picked to go to the craft store next and got some oil pastels and paper and wood crafts to make in the afternoon. (She has been busily drawing and making stories all morning). Then at night she picked to do the "tree of life" for the FHE lesson. She loves it. John ties ropes around and we blindfold the kids and they have to hold tight to the rope while we "tempt" them to let go. At the end is a tree with some kind of treat tied to it. The kids have a blast! I can't believe my little girl is growing up so fast!

Sydney's treat for FHE

Sydney wanted to be in charge of the treat for FHE last night. She banished us from the kitchen and started creating. My sister in law Sarah Lee called in the middle of her making it, and she told her what she was making, but swore her to secrecy. I didn't think to take a picture when she had them done, but as we were eating and John was telling her how good they were she said she would share the recipe. So I took a picture with what was left. Here is the recipe from Sydney: You take a piece of bread, cut up bananas and put them on, and then sprinkle brown sugar on top. She shared the recipe in song, so you'll just have to imagine. It actually was good, very sweet! She is wise beyond her years, a true chef in the making!

Random thoughts this week

This week has been pretty uneventful. I feel like it's been catch up week after a wonderful week of having a lot of family events. My house is finally clean again! And I spent some time reading New Moon the second book in the twilight series. I get sucked into those books. I couldn't resist this picture of Sydney and her cousin Jill. After Kyle and Ashlee had cut the wedding cake, the girls decided they wanted a piece and didn't bother to ask for a cut one. They were taking huge handfuls and eating away! Good think Kyle and Ashlee have easy going personalities!




Here is a picture for everyone that knows John well. Remember how much he hates cell phones. Well I think he uses ours as much or more than me! I just had to document him in his new "high-tech" mode.

I did get the opportunity to go to Womens Conference. It was wonderful. I didn’t take any pictures on my camera so just imagine BYU campus and you’ll get the drift. President Monson was the concluding speaker and as he walked into the room, I received such a sweet feeling. I knew he was the Prophet. It was so wonderful to be so close to him and hear him in person. Something I’ll never forget!







In honor of Syndey's 5th birthday which is on the 19th I thought I post one of my favorite baby pictures of her. I love her so much and I can't believe it was that long ago!

Coupon Savings

So this may seem dumb to some of you, and it's not quite as good as Stacey's but I was very excited. I couldn't fit all of it on the couch but I got about 70 boxes of cereal, good granola bars, and fruit roll ups for under $40. I had to buy them in batches of 8 so I don't think my checker was nearly as excited as I was. Thanks for the tips Stacey!

Here Comes the Bride

John's brother, Kyle, got married this weekend. It was a great weekend, and Sydney is so excited for Ashlee to be her new aunt!



Dave was not excited about wearing his tie. As my sister-in-law Sarah said, it made him look a little like fast food management, but oh well!



Dave was shoving in the m&ms as fast as he could. It was a beautiful wedding and they are a great pair!

So glad we're rated "G"

So I laughed when I saw someone that had got a Rated R and she hadn't swore, so out of curiosity I checked. Good thing we're rated G!

Sand Dunes

We went to the sand dunes on Friday. It was a lot of fun. We took out one of our four wheelers and played around on it. I must say my children and husband are much more daring than me. (Big surprise I know). Whenever I would suggest that certain hills would be better with just two people on it instead of four, Sydney would give great encouragement like, "Just close your eyes mom," "be tough" or "just be more daring, mom". What a great coach. There was an area roped off from any motorized vehicles and we played there for a long time. We built sand castles and buried kids in the sand. I laid on the sand and could imagine I was in Hawaii, which for those of you that know me well, know that is my favorite place! The only problem with the day is that we forgot our camera. I was so mad! I did get this picture of Dave when we got home. He was so tired he fell asleep in the truck about 2 minutes after we started driving. Then continued his nap on the couch at home.

When he got up this is what he left behind!

Sydney had 10 minutes from when we got home to get to a birthday party, so I only got her picture after clean up. It was a great day, I am sad that spring break is over today!

Kids, John, Old friends, etc.

Apparently I blog around my kids a little too much, although lately that's just been looking at blogs. Sydney asks all the time if she can look at blogs with me. She'll say "Mom, let's go look at blogs. Read me this one, or let's go to the one with the little girl." etc. Last night she wanted to take a picture to put on the blog. So the above picture is Sydney's in all of it's glory.

Once Sydney took a picture, Dave of course wanted to be part of the action. So he took this great picture of Sydney and I. Can you say "Extreme close-up?"

We spent the last week at my Dad's house while John was at a conference. It was wonderful to see family for days in a row. I also saw my great friends from high school and college Joni and J'me who were in town for a wedding. They suggested meeting for lunch. John was at his conference so I had my kids. David is not quite the sit still at a restaurant so mom can chat with friends type of kid, so I was a little nervous I would only have a few minutes to chat, but he fell asleep in the parking lot and slept on my lap the whole time. It was great to catch up and enjoy such great company!

The starter on my car has been dragging, so last night John changed it out. We had the FHE lesson be about cars and how they run. Sydney was fascinated. You can tie it in to the gospel too, with the idea we all need to refuel constantly with scriptures and prayer or our spirits won't work, just like the car needs gas. Sydney just loves spending time with her dad though, no matter what it is. John got very dirty and I couldn't resist the pictures.

John had washed his hands off by this time, but before they were black. Sydney looked at them and asked "Daddy, why is the skin on your hands black now?" Then she demanded he take off his wedding ring and not put it back on until his hands were clean. She'll make a great drill sergeant one day. It's been a great week and spring break is Thursday, Friday, and Monday so we'll look forward to more adventures!

April Fools Dinner

For dinner I found these cute ideas on Family Fun magazine's website. We made meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potato topping. We dyed the mashed potatoes to look like frosting, so they really looked like cupcakes. Dave was so fooled he came and took a big bite of potatoes out of the bowl, and was really disappointed it wasn't frosting. We made "grilled cheese sandwiches" for dessert. It was really pound cake cut like bread with frosting dyed orange to look like cheese. They really did look like it. These pictures don't do it justice. Well, John and I had a great time making dinner we were laughing, and shooing the kids out of the kitchen. Then, it was time to eat. The kids were really excited to have cupcakes for dinner (no reservations about sugar at dinner, unlike breakfast (see next post.)) Anyway, they took one bite and both were so grossed out. Dave spit it out on his plate and Sydney said she didn't like that kind of frosting. In hind sight, I can see that thinking you were going to have frosting and eating potatoes wouldn't be that great. The meatloaf was great, actually the best I've ever had, thanks family fun. The kids however wanted nothing to do with it after that. They did love their "grilled cheese" though. John and I were surprised at their reactions, but oh well, we had a great April Fools Day!

April Fools Breakfast

In John's family it is tradition to have ice cream sundae's for breakfast. We decided to carry on that tradition this year. The kids are usually asleep when John leaves for work, (although Sydney loves to wake up in time to eat with dad), so we decided to wake them up so John could be with them for breakfast. In the kitchen, Sydney's face brightened up, and she said, "Oh I get it, it's silly to wake us up for breakfast, so this is April Fools." When we served the ice cream, she looked at us seriously and said, "this is not healthy, we need healthy breakfasts." Dave kept saying, "Not breakfast, not breakfast." I have been watching my sugar the last few months, maybe it's rubbed off a little too much!