NEW HOUSE

I wish I had some pics to post, that is the next thing on my to-do list...but it is official, we are home owners (again)! I am so excited to have a new house to bring the baby home to. It is already proving to be so much work and I am just tired. We knew going into it that it needed some love and cosmetic repairs, so we didn't go in blindly. I sure wish I had more energy and could do more around the house, but I have so many family members that are handy and are willing to help it has been wonderful. I feel that my credit card is on fire from being swiped so much, it doesn't have time to cool down in between shopping trips! I am not sure in what universe I thought that repairs, cleaning, packing and moving was going to be a good idea while 8 1/2 months pregnant! But I think it will be easier while the baby is on the inside. Although taping baseboards for painting while leaning over my beach ball stomach makes it hard to breathe, I survived! So in the mean time know that we are preparing to move and praying the baby doesn't come before next weekend!

4th Birthday Pirate Party

I can't believe that my little girl is 4 years old today. I was remembering yesterday morning at about 9AM that I went into labor with her and yet she wasn't born until today. It took a lot to get her here, but now that she's here I can't imagine life without her. In fact it's hard to remember what life was like when she wasn't here. She is such a happy girl, great helper, loves to help me cook and unload the dishwasher. Enjoys dancing, singing (including making up her own songs) coloring and anything Disney Princess. She plays really well with her little brother and is looking forward to being a big sister (again) soon. She is such a girly-girl, loves pink and will only wear dresses or skirts. She told us today "I'm all grown up now!" (not even close, sister! Little does she know I want her to stay little for a long time yet!)
She wanted a "pirate party with friends" this year, which I thought would be great considering that most of her little friends are boys. We played various pirate themed games including: a treasure hunt, pin the flag in the pirate ship mast, made balloon swords, gave all the kids tattoos (hopefully won't be hearing about any angry parents for that one!), decorated pirate hats and of course the quintessiential break the pinyata. (and thanks to Costco it was cheaper to buy a huge thing of candy, so the kids were not even fighting over candy with 5 pounds to split between them! Some of the kids stopped picking it up because it wouldn't fit into their treasure boxes.) It was a wonderful party and Hailey had a great time, that's all that I really wanted was for her to have fun and celebrate her. It makes all the planning and preparation worth it. So glad to have my little girl, whose not quite so little anymore, and won't be my baby for too much longer.. .Happy Birthday, baby girl!

Honey, what did you do today?

Cutting coupons on the kitchen table.

How much would you pay for my groceries?

My total was almost $18, handed over coupons and my out of pocket total was $1.85! That's an 89% savings! I haven't done that good, ever!

I am sure as wives we are asked this almost everyday by our adoring husbands, and since I have been a mother there are days that I can't really give him an answer...not sure what I did, but it was something because here it is 5:00 and I got through the day. My side hobby as of late is couponing, and although at times I want to curse it, there are days like today when I am addicted! So here is what I DID today! :)

Happy 4th of July

Hailey wanted her hair to be a star like last year.

Fireworks at Grammy J's

Ah, traditions! I love going to the parade in Centerville and just being together. Here are a few pics of the eventful day. Love celebrating! So glad to live in America!

Happy Fathers Day

I know it's a bit late, but I had to take a moment and brag about what an amazing husband I have! He is so good to us! He goes into work early and gets home in the late afternoon, as soon as he walks in the door Hailey gets so excited to see Dave. She'll sometimes sing the song "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home, glad as I can be! Then give him what? A great BIG kiss!" (we need to work on learning the whole song!) He'll take the kids and play with them. They love to lay in bed with us on Saturday mornings and giggle and play. Dave will take the kids on bike rides in the trailer, or walks to the park to give me a break. He is just the greatest! Since I stay busy in the Primary Presidency and my cousin had his farewell, Dave wouldn't get much of a Father's Day Sunday, so we celebrated the night before with his favorite meal; lasagna and homemade french bread. It's nice to have a day to tell Dave how much he is loved!

The price for a clean house

In my quest to keep a cleaner house, I have discovered that I do better by keeping on top of the dishes one meal at a time, it is working really well and I am loving always having a clean kitchen to cook in. So the other morning, I was working on getting breakfast cleaned up in the kitchen and the kids were playing outside. Hailey came in and told me she needed to wash her feet off in the sink, I told her to go in and do it herself...but then it got awfully quiet (why is the absence of noise so disturbing and a cause for alarm?!?) I walk into the bathroom and find them BOTH in the sink, taking a bath! Ah, I love being a Mom! :)

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!

What a whirwind week! We spent a week in Florida with my family on vacation. One word would sum things up nicely...HOT! I really forget how stinkin' hot and humid it is down there. I would wait for the sun to go down, thinking it would cool down, but with the humidity, it just never did! (Hailey's curly hair loved the humidity though!)And since the Disney parks are in the sun, you are literally out in the weather ALL day! The kids were great, I was impressed they made it on the flights, late nights at the parks and long car rides. It helped that we had lots of things to do and thanks to Aunt Aimee, a portable DVD player for them. (that really saved us on the airplane with Preston!) We went to Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Dave was telling me that on Disney's financial reports they attribute "magic" as part of their success, and it is so true, there really is something magical about that place! I'll hit a couple of highlights since the whole trip was so long. We did a character breakfast and since the Princess one is booked out 6 months in advance, we went to one with Mary Poppins. We tried to find a dress, but they don't make a Mary Poppins dress! So my mom made it up for Hailey and my niece Madeline. They turned out so cute! We got so many compliments on them. The best part is when Mary Poppins got to our table, Hailey was so elated to see her and Mary was playing her part well. She sat down and loving took the time to put Hailey's fingers in her lace gloves and talked to her the whole time in her quaint little British accent. It made the whole trip worth it to me!

We went on a walk through a forrest and found a lot of interesting creatures. All Preston wanted was (in his own words) "Stick! I get it! Poke!" He really doesn't need those connecting words, he makes his point perfectly clear. He tried to get the little tree frogs, lizards, grasshoppers, and anything that would stand still long enough for him to poke. He loved the loud car show complete with stunts and fire. Hailey plugged her ears and fell asleep for the duration of the program.

The parks were crowds and waiting in line, but oh so worth it! My favorite ride is the Toy Story shooting one, the kids loved all the game pieces in line that were larger than life.

I think the kids favorite part was the beach, they could have spent ALL day there! We got there later in the evening and weren't able to spend a lot of time, but the kids loved running out into the ocean and having it push them back to shore. I loved the warm sand in between my toes.

All in all, it was great to be with the family, and to have Dave with us every day for a whole week! :) Next time we will do Disney in November when it is cooler down there.