SANTA!!!

Haley specifically asked to see Santa (which is crazy, considering she screamed the first 3 years!), so off we trudged on a Friday night, in the snow, to the crrraaazy mall, to wait in line. You never realize how much your parents love you until you ARE one. :) Anyway, Ashlyn was proud of herself just to wave at Santa and yell "Jingle Bells" at him, so no cute picture there. Haley did NOT ask Santa for the present that she has been talking about constantly for the last month. What???!?!? We learned our lesson this year.

P.S. Thanks for the head's up Sarah! I didn't use a flash. :)

Ballet

For Mom - in case you miss it.  :)

New Site

For those of you wondering what we chose, we went with the shortest, easiest to spell, easy to remember.  Here it is.....

bowsweet.com

It takes you to the blog until the website is done.

A Wall!

Here's the first complete wall! Well, almost....the other side needs a little on the top, but it's the first place to make it to the top! We still have to paint the wood on the windows white (sorry Beth, I think hot pink won't happen). We have to paint before it gets below 50 degrees (according to "experts"). If we can really push, I think we can finish on Saturday! Whew!

Fun with Coupons!

The Beginning of the End

We started the best part of the siding! Wahoo! Now we can finally start to see what it will look like! The foam went up in a couple of weeks. The second stage has been the longest - the trim, corners, facia, details, etc. just take forever, and you can't really see much happening. Now, finally, we get some color! No more paint-chipped orange walls, and soon, no more foam! I think it will be a big improvement! It is such a long process. It isn't that difficult, but it takes SOOOOO long!  Greg has been so busy with work and extra work, that it's been hard to find the time. And the weather did NOT cooperate on the few free days we had. It is a long process WITHOUT those issues anyway, so it's been extra long. But, the end is in sight! The kids enjoy playing hide-and-seek and playing in the dirt and chalk while we work. Dan has been our hero! He has spent so many hours helping Greg. They have worked in the dark, in the pouring rain... Wow. Thanks Dan!

Happy Halloween!

Ariel and Flounder. Ashlyn kept looking down like that in each picture. I think she thought it was important to show the head of the fish.

Cannnndyyy!

Cousins "Merlin" and "Bob the Builder"

Cousin "Dog"

Kindergarten parade and party.

Ward Halloween Party

Playing Games. Love the tongue!

Mary Poppins and "Chimney-Sweep Guy" (That's what people remember, but his name is Bert! :) I wish I would've gotten some pictures of the other costumes. There were some pretty awesome ones there! I think my friends got some on their blogs, so check those out.

Aren't we sillllly?

A couple of Haley's best friends were ALSO Ariel. So cute!

The cake we entered into the cake decorating contest. My fingers are still purple from the frosting that stains so well.

Pumpkin Carving

We never made it to the Pumpkin Patch, so we went to good ol' Harmon's to pick out our pumpkins!


This is serious carving...move the kitchen table and chairs...put down the visqueen....(then how did we end up with seeds all over the house?)

The finished product. The size of the pumpkin should help you know who's is who's. Yeah, I never did my pumpkin - too busy helping kids. Ah, the life of a mom. Hmmm... What do you do with a non-carved pumpkin after Halloween? These actually wilted the next day. The skeleton's head fell back and he is now headless. It is pretty funny and sad at the same time. I guess I shouldn't complain about the warm weather, but wilting after ONE DAY?

Fruit Bat

Haley wanted me to take a picture of her being a "fruit bat" - so, here it is. Hahaha What a girl!

Halloween Decorations

We decorated for Halloween earlier this month. (The kids were bored that day, so the decorations came out a little early...) We put this poster on the door and Ashlyn kept running over to give it a hug, and say, "I love da big punkin." The kids LOOved this witch in the store. They were giggling at it like crazy, so I couldn't resist getting it.

A New List

I guess Haley got tired of doing her usual morning list.  She made her own list....

#1 Get out of bed.

#2 Take a bath.

#3 Get dressed.

#4 Get backpack on.

#5 Go to school.

(Kind of convenient that it doesn't have any jobs :)

The sun is there because it's her "morning list."  The last part says "Haley is 5."

I'm old.

I turned 30 and, boy, my body felt old! I woke up in the morning with a terrible head cold - the kind that shoots pain behind your eyes if you move your head in any direction. I was still extremely stiff and sore from working out 2 days before and had re-sprained my ankle. The day before, I had a day of what felt like I had depression - didn't want to do anything. Having my hair in a ponytail, I noticed WAY more streaks of grey in my hair. All week I had been exhausted, going to bed at 9pm! (when I usually stay up until midnight at least - what is that all about?!). I also had restless legs when trying to sleep (yes, it is a real thing.) What is going on?! Did my body really find out what day was coming? And, look at me - complaining about my ailments like an old person :) AAgggghhhh!

My sweet hubby came home early, brought roses, a snickers cake, and presents. Can't wait to get a pedicure! It'll be more like surgery with my horrible sandal feet! (See, there I go again...complaining!) Greg took care of the kids, gave me a massage, and ordered take-out. Love you Greggor! He is still bringing my requested cake today, since the place got it wrong yesterday. (If anyone has ever had chocolate-covered chocolate cheesecake from Thanksgiving Point you will know why I requested it!)  Anyway, Greg has worked so hard this week, and then he works so hard for me. What a guy!

A hhaa haa haa

Got this poem from my sister.  Still laughing...

You've hit a milestone,
And I'm a day late,
In wishing you well,
I hope it was great!

I heard you were sick,
Well, that's a real bummer,
You can be thankful though,
You aren't an old gummer.

Thirty isn't as old,
As it was years ago,
Time seems to change things,
Especially in wrinkles that show.

I remember when I was young,
And thirty seemed old,
Now 60 is the new 30
Is what I've been told.

At least be grateful,
That you're not forty,
You start to shrink,
And become more of a shorty.

Hair starts to thin,
Except on your chin,
You can't pick up a pin,
You just can't win.

Things that were up,
Begin to go down,
And everywhere you look,
There are new things to be found.

So, be grateful today,
That you are not as old as me,
Because then you would have to,
Wake up in the night to pee.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Our Next Project...

Well, we finally starting putting siding on the house! Wa-hoooo! We are almost done with the foam board. Thank you to those that have helped so far, especially Dan (even in the dark)! We need all the help we can get! It is such a big project. We still need to decide on a color...maybe I'll do a poll....that's always fun a blog! It has to be a color that looks good with our orange brick and white trim. It's probably too hard with pictures and samples to see the true color, but oh well!

Happy Birthday Ashlyn!

Ashlyn is 2! She knew the Birthday Song the first time we sang it to her that morning. She sang right along! Ashlyn kept saying, "Bir-day" all day long. I think she knew it was her special day. She was constantly galloping or jumping up and down. She is such a cutie. Can't imagine our family without her! Oh, and yeah, it was my first attempt at actually MAKING a cake. Haha...usually too lazy for that. Haley had a lot of fun decorating it, and Ashlyn said "A-fly" over and over when she saw it. And, notice she ate all the frosting off the top.

Don't Touch!

Here is another funny Haley-ism that needed a picture...
Haley drew a picture of this wizard figurine, and then drew a hand with a circle around it and a slash through it. She taped it to the wizard saying, "This sign says not to touch the wizard." She is always telling me what warning signs say. Thank goodness I can depend on her for a laugh!

Recipe

This is Haley's recipe for the yummy peach shake that she had last night, thanks to Dan and Beth! "Take the box of ice cream....scoop it....put in peaches....put it in smoothie maker." I love the addition signs too. Didn't know she knew what that meant. She is very serious about me learning how to make it.

Ode to the Paynes

I feel your Payne! (Oh man, full of 'em today...I'm sure they've heard em all too...sorry)

The Payne's had a similar experience so I thought I'd show our pics....



It was in every room of the house, sticking to everything, just like it stuck to the girls! Yes, still vacuuming it off of everything! But, they sure had FUN!

Quack!

It took us a minute to figure out what Ashlyn was trying to show us. She thought she was pretty funny! We finally realized she was being the duck on the book's cover. She stuck her neck out and everything! Ha ha! What a little DUCKwitz! (Wa wa whaaa)

The Big 30!

Greg turned 30! Wahoo! Everyone surprised him when we came back from our trip. He was even more surprised to find that he got the thing he wanted most in life (hee hee).....an iPHONE! You can see he's slightly happy about that....

Pioneer Ballet

Pioneer Day

My little pioneers...

Our ward parade/carnival...

Beauuuuuutiful...

From the best husband in the world...

Can you Guess? Part II

Look for answers in the "comments."