The nightmare (aka family pictures)

The night started out okay, until Little Man decided he had had enough. His lack of enthusiasm rubbed off on Peanut. She has a hard time smiling anyway. She has the cutest smile if you can catch her off guard. As soon as she sees the camera the smile turns into a half smirk, half cheese ball. She also has a hard time standing still. I know that she is only three, but she CANNOT hold still. She takes excellent blurry photos to say the least. Bugs did super, until we asked her to lay down on the bridge. She did not want to. After that she was all attitude. You might ask yourself, "Where are the photos of the bridge?" The answer the that would be that there aren't any. They did not work out at all. The kids had had enough by then. Thank you Holly for putting up with the craziness that is our family. ENJOY!

Happy Birthday Little Man!!!

I can't believe that my Little Man is 2. Where has the time gone? He is such a good little guy (most of the time). I am so glad that he joined our family. Little man is stubborn, but is very loving. He loves to give hugs and kisses, and is quick to say I'm sorry, which he does quite often. He talks non stop, and loves to sing songs. Look at how much he has grown. Little man is 6 weeks old in this picture.
And here he is this summer. How can you not love that smile!

On Sat. we were playing in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard. Little man disappeared for a short amount of time, and then came running as proud as he could be. He can't stay out of the dirt. He is definitely all boy!

Little Man is in love with tractors and trucks. For his cake I attempted a tractor. It didn't turn out exactly like I wanted but Little Man didn't seem to mind. I also made cupcakes, but hadn't planned what to top them with. I was very short on time so decided the they would be topped with "dirt" (aka crushed oreos).

Here is the front view. I cut the cake a little crooked, so don't look too close.

Friends are fabulous! Little man is laying his head on his new green football.

Here he is blowing out his candles.

Happy birthday my little guy we love you!!!!

Nine years!

I can't believe it has been nine years. I love you so much! Thank you for all of your love, hard work and all of the sacrifices that you make for me and our family. You are a great husband and father.

graduation

It's official (or it will be after Wed.), Bugs is no longer in kindergarten. Tonight was her "graduation", aka program. The kids were so cute, and did such a great job. Bugs was so excited to perform all of the songs they had been working on. I can't believe the year is actually over. She has learned, and grown so much over the past nine months. She can count to 100, recognize all of the letters in the alphabet, add simple numbers, write her numbers to 100, and she is reading. It amazes me all of the information that these children learn. I only posted a few pictures. I might try to post a video later, however our camera isn't very good, so the quality is horrible.

Bugs is in the back row. She is trying to be a statue while they are waiting to sing the next song.

Here she is wearing her graduation hat. I love this girl! And can't believe how grown up she is.

Love her teacher! She is an amazing woman, and a fantastic teacher. Bugs is going to miss her so much. She has helped Bugs to love school and love to learn. I am so grateful for all of the time and effort she has put in to teaching all of these wonderful kids. I am amazed at the patience and love that she shows to each of her students. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Jr. Olympics

Bugs participated in a Jr Olympics tonight. She did a great job. She was super nervous, so she relied on her coach to remind her of her routine. She is so cute and tries so hard. I am very proud of all that she does.

Our camera is a little slow. Mike was able to get a picture right as she was finishing her bridge.

Bugs favorite apparatus is the bars. She is gaining better control of her upper body, and can hold herself up really well.

Her grandparents spoil her. They brought her some very beautiful flowers. I had to get a picture of her holding them at the end of the meet. She looks so cute, but I am a little biased.

I am so proud of you. Love you Bugs!!!

Easter

So I am a little behind in blogging. I figured it was better to at least upload some pictures, even if I don't write much about them. We had an Easter egg hunt in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard. The kids had so much fun. Little Man pick up on the hunt very quickly. He was so excited every time he found an egg.
My brother made root beer. All of the kids were enthralled with the "smoke".

Love this little guy. He feel in love with this car. I couldn't get him out of it.

Grandma and Grandpa gave all of the granddaughters matching dresses. The older girls were thrilled that they were able to wear matching outfits.

Love these two!

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!!!!

Rice Krispies anyone?

Little Man was being very quite the other day. I walked into the kitchen and found this:

The faith of a 3 year old

It has been forever since I posted. Life has been crazy! My sweet little Peanut has defiantly added to the craziness at our house. This post is going to be pretty detailed, it is mainly so I will have a record of what happened. On Sunday night, Peanut found part of a contact lens on the floor. I am not sure how old the contact was, or where it has been hiding, but Peanut found it. Since both her mother and father wear contacts, she has observed the ritual of putting them in. Peanut decided that this would be a great idea and proceeded to insert the contact into her eye. Since it was only part of a contact, and also very dried out, her eye began for sting instantly. She couldn't tell me exactly what she put in her eye, and i being the great mom I am, told her that it was an eyelash and she would be fine. After about ten or fifteen minutes of her still complaining and me not being able to find the source of her irritation, questioned her more thoroughly. This is when I discovered that she actually inserted something into her eye! Who does that? Of course that would be my daughter.
Mike was at work and it was now 9:00 pm. I was debating on taking her to the ER or waiting out the night. Peanut was in so much pain. I asked her what mommy could do to help. Her response was so simple and trusting. She told me that she wanted a blessing. I am so grateful that she has such a strong testimony and faith in the gospel that she knew a blessing would help. Since Mike was at work I called on our neighbors to come over and bless her. I am truly grateful to have the great neighbors I do. This is not the first time I have called on them to help our family. I am so thankful for the power of the priesthood. Peanut sat so well for the blessing, and was blessed that she would be okay. Immediately after she fell asleep, and rested until Mike got home. He was able to work his magic as a Father and remove the contact from her eye. It was only about a fourth or maybe a third of a contact. The edges were very ragged. The contact was soft when we removed it, but that was after it had been in her eye for 3 hours.
What a great example this little girl is to me. She was such a trooper and tried her hardest to be brave. I am so grateful that she is okay and that her eye stopped hurting immediately after Mike removed the contact. I let her lay next to me in bed that night. While we were lying there I asked her what happened that night. This is how the conversation went:
Mom, "What happened tonight?"
Peanut, "I put something in my eye, and it hurt really bad."
Mom, "What happened after that?"
Peanut, "Shannon said a prayer, Mommy prayed, and I got a blessing."
Mom, "What happened after everyone prayed for you?"
Peanut, "My eye got better, 'cause Heavenly Father loves me."
What else can I add to that testimony. It was not a fun night, but what a great learning and growing experience. Love you Peanut (and all the craziness you bring into our house)!!!!

Happy Valentines Day!

Can you see the cute heart in Peanut's hair. This is how it looked on Valentines Day. My friend made the cute beaded headband. I thought it turned out super cute, so I had to snap a photo.



It is a challenge to get all three angels looking at me and smiling at the same time. This is about the best I could get. I love how Little Man is craning his neck.

I didn't have to work one day last week, and this is the outcome. Bugs wanted her hair curly, so we pulled out the curling iron and the hairspray. She looks so grown up. I love how clear her blue eyes are.

Happy Birthday!!!

I know this is late, but I wanted Mom to know how much we love you. Hope you had a fantastic birthday!!!! I know that we had so much fun.

Reading stories with Grandma before going to dinner. My kids would listen to my mom read to them for hours, and believe me sometimes they do. Mom is so sweet to sit there and read whatever they bring to her.

Aren't these two cute! Little Man and his cousin waiting so patiently at the restaraunt. Love the little smiles.

This is just before we drove down to my families for the weekend. All three of the kids left their glasses on the whole way down (about two hours). Little Man loves his glasses.

Peanut looks so innocent. Don't be fooled! I love this little girl. She gives me a run for my money, but she is so sweet and cute. Lately all she wants to do in share with her family. It doesn't matter what she has, she wants to share. I love you Peanut!