Potty Trained...

I think for the most part Avery would be considered potty trained. I no longer have to remind her and she goes on her own (although she seems to need to go about every half hour which is kind of annoying.) She still has the occasional accident as she is making a mad dash to the bathroom and doesn't quite make it in time. I haven't been brave enough to leave the house for more than an hour yet so hopefully that won't be too scary. I'm so proud of her and it will be so nice to be done with diapers after 4+ years between her and Maddy. Apparently my work isn't done though and we are in the process of training her doll...

Whatever Wednesday: Hunger Games...

I read this book last week and it was awesome! Very hard to put down. I would highly recommend it! I've started the second book in the trilogy and am not looking forward to waiting for the third and final book to come out this summer. I've also read the movie rights have been purchased and I'm really excited about that. More info. here.

Music Monday: One Dream...

This is the latest from Sarah McLachlan. It will be used for the Olympics in Vancouver next month and I think it is really beautiful.

Sarah McLachlan: One Dream...

Whatever Wednesday: Avatar...

Steve and I saw Avatar in 3D over the weekend and we both loved it! It felt like you were in a really cool dream and it was visually breathtaking. It was long (almost 3 hours) but it kept our attention the whole time. I would definitely recommend seeing it in 3D while it is still in the theaters.

Wish Me Luck...

Music Monday: Cut...

If you are a Vampire Diaries fan you might recognize this song. I really like it!

Plumb: Cut...

The Boy Behind the Name...

Maddy has been able to write his name (without help or looking at an example) for some time now (probably a couple months) and I keep forgetting to post about it. He sometimes writes his d's like b's and sometimes the a looks like a b or d but I think he is doing a great job. He loves learning all his letters and is constantly asking me what letter things start with and gets excited to pick something out that starts with the letter of the week for show-n-tell. This was yesterday...

His preschool class made a cute little cookbook for the parents for Christmas. It is so adorable! I loved reading all the different "recipe's" for all the kids. Maddy loves it and asks me to read it to him almost every day. He giggles at what the other kids said. Here is his "recipe"...

"Noodle Soup" is Top Ramen. He absolutely loves it and insists on having it almost every day for lunch. I know, it's not the most healthy thing for him but he is actually a pretty healthy eater overall so I let him. It's actually quite the process to make it... everything has to be done a certain way-his way.

He is also quite the "hoarder." He seriously carries around so much stuff with him all day long. I was waiting for a video to upload on the computer and came out to check on the kids and this is what I found.

As you may already know he also LOVES the cartoon "Ben 10." Every time an episode comes on he shouts out all the "alien's" names as they appear on the TV. I couldn't help recording him yesterday so I can remember this phase in his life later...

Whatever Wednesday: Blurb...

I've been procrastinating making my blog into a book because it just seems like such a huge mountain to conquer. If you haven't noticed I post a lot and my posts are HUGE because I just haven't figured out how to keep things simple yet. Anyway now I've got two years I need to do. I have 280 posts for 2008 and 299 posts for 2009. That's almost a post a day. Not all my posts will make it to the book but I have a feeling my books are going to be huge and I'm a perfectionist so I know I will be proof reading them all several times. It took planning a "Blurb" party with my sisters to finally get me going. So I will be spending some time here today with my sisters. Any tips or warnings would be extremely appreciated! Wish me luck!

Music Monday: If You Want Me...

Beautiful song from a beautiful movie!

Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova: If You Want Me...

New Years Weekend...

Over the New Years weekend Steve, Avery and I were pretty sick (Maddy was finally getting over it.) We weren't feeling up to much so we didn't go out on New Years Eve (Thursday.) We pretty much hung out and watched movies and TV. Steve and I both ended up falling asleep on the couch and finally made our way to bed at about 11:30 PM. As expected right at midnight fireworks started going off, kids banging pots in our street and the texts starting coming. We weren't sleeping yet so technically I guess you could say we stayed up to ring in the New Year.

Friday night our good friends Chad and Hillary were in town from California. We've been wanting to catch the local band "Broke City" with them for some time and it turns out they were playing in Salt Lake. So they asked if we wanted to go with them. We found a babysitter last minute and went. We got there too early so we decided to go to the "Melting Pot" and have some cheese and chocolate fondue. We always have such a fun time with them and had some interesting conversation. After we finished eating we headed over to the venue (Urban Lounge) and I think the band finally came on around midnight. Needless to say it was a late night and we didn't get home until 2 AM. The band did a great job and we really enjoyed the entertainment as well as the company.

Saturday night we decided to check out "Pirate Island Pizza" as a family. We planned an outing with my sisters Jamie (and family) and Stacy. Overall we had a fun time. It was a really busy night and I thought the food wasn't all that great. The kids LOVED playing games with their Dads while we waited to be seated and they got pirate hats and balloon animals. There was also some live entertainment which I enjoyed. Here are a few pictures from the night.

Yes Avery is sticking her balloon in her nose...

This was Steve and Maddy's favorite game. They got tons of tickets playing it. Maddy was excited to cash them in for his prizes.

I love how excited he looks in this picture!

Thanks Jamie (and family) and Stacy for a fun outing.

Sunday we still weren't feeling that well so we didn't make it to church. We all relaxed and watched some movies. One of which was "500 Days of Summer." I really liked it a lot and would highly recommend it if you haven't seen it yet.

St. George...

On Sunday 12/27/09 we headed to St. George for four days. Steve has a client that has a really nice house down there and he wanted Steve to come train him, his wife and his parents while they were staying there. So we packed up the family and took a little mini-vacation. It was really fun and relaxing. They have a really nice outdoor heated pool and hot tub so we spent some time there. We also watched some movies in the theater room he built. They have an awesome kids play room so of course we spent lots of time there-the kids loved it! One of the days the guys went golfing so us girls and the kids hung out at the house and played cards. Steve has them on strict meal plans so we all ate really healthy which was nice after eating lots of not so healthy stuff during the holidays. Avery started to get sick while we were there but other than that we had a great time as a family. We hit a snow storm on the way home but it wasn't too terrible. Here are some pictures...

The weather was pretty cold (like 30's) but the pool water was so warm it was like taking a really warm bath.

I hung out in the hot tub. :)

They have the cutest little kitchen in the kids playroom. The kids loved playing here and made me all sorts of food.

Maddy doing some ironing.

These "Plasma" cars are so much fun to ride and we all had a blast.

Had lots of fun on the swings as well.

Our living quarters. They have a really nice guest house, which they call "The Casita" that we stayed in. It is attached to the house but completely separate so it was really nice and accommodating.

One of the many views.

Thanks John and Heidi for such a fun time and inviting us to come! We really enjoyed ourselves.

Christmas Afternoon...

Christmas afternoon we went over to my sister Stacy's house for our annual family Christmas party. My parents and all my siblings (and families) were able to be there except for Jennifer. We missed you guys Jen! We always have such a good time and I look forward to it every year! Here are some highlights...

Santa made a visit (looks like he's lost a little weight) ...

It took a little convincing but we finally got Maddy to sit on his lap.

Avery wanted nothing to do with him. This was as close as she got. We tried putting her on his lap but she wasn't having it at all.

Turns out Santa was looking for more than just a visit with the kids. :)

Everybody chowing down. We had yummy turkey roast with potatoes and carrots, my Aunt Carolyn's yummy rolls, artichoke cheese dip (made by me), veggie tray and pumpkin rolls and cake for dessert.

The kids opening presents. All the cousins did a gift exchange and Maddy and Avery got puzzles from their cousins. Avery got a really nice doll stroller and Maddy got a really cool desk from my parents.

The adults did a nice "White Elephant" gift exchange. It's so fun! Shalane and I ended up with the most wanted gifts... there was quite a battle for them (sorry Jamie and Mom... or should I say Ben and Dad?) ;) Steve got a $25 gift certificate to Great Harvest-yum!

My Dad always falls asleep and the guys decided to mess with him and put paper in his mouth while he was sleeping. It was pretty funny!

The kids LOVED climbing all over Steve and getting "horsey" rides. I think they wore him out!

I have the best family ever!

Thanks everyone for an awesome Christmas! Thanks Stacy and Justin for having us!

Maddy's Birthday Celebration...

Since Maddy's birthday is so close to Christmas (December 16th) we decided to have our family celebration with him when our family got together on Christmas at my sister Stacy's house. He was sick on Christmas Eve but he lit right up and was so excited when I brought his cake home and showed it to him. He couldn't wait to get the "Ben 10" character off it so he could play with it and he kept climbing up on the counter to look at it. He was also so excited that it was green because that's his favorite color. He picked out a white cake with raspberry filling in the middle (with a little help from me)... yummy!

Opening presents... he got some Alphabet cards from his nephew Jace, another "Lets Go Fishing" game from his nephew (Dallin) and nieces (Claire & Lola) and an outfit from my parents. He felt really special and I think he thought our whole Christmas party was a party for him...

The birthday boy... just adore him! Here is a short video of us singing "Happy Birthday" to him...