At Last

We had some pictures taken by Melanie, the most patient & sweet photographer known to man. The kids had fun trying explore the great outdoors & we only had one little mishap with cactus.

i love the scenery & colors of this shot. bunny ears optional!

m is sporting the tweener smirk. haha! notice my hot new hair courtesy of jamie. looks pretty dang good if i do say so myself!!

another amazing backdrop.

and last but not least (pun totally intended), a booty shot for mary! :D

I'm Feelin' Crafty

*photo & project linked from Elizabeth Kartchner.

OK, so how stinkin' cute are these fabric envelopes?? I need to go through my fabric stash and find me some super cute Christmas fabric to make these babies! So am I the only one out there that has dozens of crafty bookmarks tabbed on my computer profiling all sorts of craft ideas from rosettes to recipes? I love finding new ideas. The problem is finding the time to do them.

Dear Santa-
Please bring me the superpower ability of not having to sleep at night while still being able to function normally through the day?
Pretty please!
Love, Me

p.s. i know i e-mailed a ton of my friends & family about the auctions over at Rally for Rafe. so if you haven't had time to take a looksie please do so today. the auctions will be active until 5:oo pm on december 14th. Some of my faves are the byu paraphenalia, the thanksgiving point gardener services and jewelry. i am auctioning off homemade cupcakes and two sets of christmas girly girl clippies! have fun & bid, bid, bid!!

December 7th

December 7th has two meaningful distinctions to me.

The badge I have on my sidebar alludes to the first. Today is TTTS Awareness Day. As many of you know my youngest son was conceived along with a twin brother. We were very surprised when I went in to see my obstetrician suspecting I was pregnant, and discovered we were pregnant with twins after she did an ultrasound. I am grateful to my doctor for doing the initial ultrasound. If she had not done it we may never have known that there were twins until after the birth. She was concerned about a descrepancy in the sizes of the two babies and referred me to a perinatologist. At about 8 weeks gestation I was officially diagnosed with a rare disorder called twin-to-twin-transfusion syndrome, a disease that causes blood flow issues within the placenta. Due to TTTS, our smaller baby Tate passed away at 15 1/2 weeks. At the instant of Tate's death, the blood flow was interrupted between the two babies. This interruption caused Alex to be born with right hemiplegia, a form of cerebral palsy. Writing this brings up many painful memories wrought with guilt. Our family still misses our sweet little baby. He is mentioned often in prayers and in intimate moments. I have dozens of ultrasound pictures saved for Alex because I've read that separated twins often feel something missing in their lives. Gratitude is prevalent for the survival of Alex. I can't imagine life without him. So on this day if you could take a little time to say a prayer for a suffering family, donate a few dollars, or educate yourself on TTTS I would be eternally grateful.

December 7, 1941 also marks the day of the attack by the Japanese military on Pearl Harbor. Both of my grandfathers fought in the Pacific Theater during World War II and survived to have a large posterity. We cannot imagine the sacrifices they made- venturing into the unknown, seeing friends killed, leaving their sweethearts and families behind. I was reading an article the other day about a 91 year old (who is younger than my grandpa) WWII veteran and Congressional Medal of Honor recipient who is being threatened legal action by his Homeowner's Association for flying an American flag on a flagpole in his front yard. It made me sad to think that the HOA is so shortsighted that it is even a rule that you can't fly a flag on a flagpole and that this veteran has lived to see the day that the flag he fought for could be taken away. I think he's earned it. So even if you are not a "flag waver" this veteran should still be respected for what he gave and sacrificed to be here today to fly it.

No Pictures

So, am I really allowed to post without a picture? I've been thinking I've been needing to update here but I don't have any visual proof to show for anything so I guess I'll commit the mortal sin of simply posting without a picture! I've been a desert widow this week as Matt has been in Mexico with his younger brother. They are pitting for a truck racing in the Baja 1000. It's a unique experience for him to be able to participate and I know that he is living it up! You know, what happens in Mexico stays in Mexico! :D The race starts in Ensenada and travels 200 miles south along the Baja Peninsula. He has made me sit through a billion hours of race tapes. After awhile, you start to recognize the drivers, kind of like NASCAR. In fact, Robby Gordon, a NASCAR driver races in the Baja 1000 and at my last google check seems to be winning the main event. Apparently, there is a huge fan base for desert racing and the Mexican drug cartels and crooked law enforcement officials leave the racers alone because they are contributing a lot of (clean) money into the local economy. I am waiting by my phone for that call demanding a million dollar ransom for my dear husband. :)

I will be hitting the trail on Saturday for our Stake's 5K. It should be fun. Yes, I said fun!! The race atmosphere is the best part of the race. There is so much enthusiasm and adrenaline in the air. I'm hoping to run it in 25 minutes. I'll really have to book it though. Good thing Trish & Julie will be there at the end to administer the CPR! :) Wish me luck!!

Halloween Spooks

Halloween has come and gone and there is still way to much candy stashed around here. I keep finding candy wrappers in random corners of the house. I also had chocolate bars & a tootsie roll pop for breakfast this morning. Apparently I have no self-control around the halloween candy!

The preschooler and I started of the weekend by going to the pumpkin patch.

The wagon ride is always a blast for the younger set.

There were a few pumpkins left and we went home with 1 small and a larger one to carve into a jack-o-lantern.

Our ward party was on Halloween, early enough so we could get back home & do a little local looting ourselves. Matt & I dressed up '50's but I forgot to have someone get a picture so you can just envision us in your creative minds. Matt got to grease back his hair and don the faithful old leather jacket. I went for the Sandy a la Grease look before she totally changed her goody-goody image to a tart just to get a guy. (Hate that part of the movie!!) We were hot. :)

Here are the kids in their get-ups this year. E= villanous pirate. A=Captain America, defender of freedom. M= Black ninja (gone are the princess days :(). A=cute spotted puppy.

Matt took the kids out trick or treating. Aidan was feeling a bit under the weather by then so we stayed home & watched that old Disney flick, Escape from Witch Mountain about the psychic twins escaping a crazy bazillionaire in an RV who wants to use them for evil! Yes, you should totally see it. It's quality. Maybe next Halloween! Hope you had a good one.

Going Back to Cali

Well, I wish I could go back to Cali because I am missing my sissy and her brood A LOT!! I got back from my fall break trip the other day and I am torn- I got loads of sleep, like 9 or 10 hours a night bunking with my 6 year old niece. On the other hand, I am positive that Joshie Boshie and Ella Bella are missing their auntie like crazy and every little cry they are exerting is because I'm not there to cuddle & kiss them (on the head of course, haven't you heard of H1N1?!) . Matt is glad I'm back and am not blackmailing him into producing another heir to the family fortune and the kids are glad I'm back so they can... wait, I'm not so sure they are glad I'm back because their Nana spoiled them like Nanas are supposed to do. Multiple trips to parks, lakes, museums, fast food joints, etc, etc. It sure is nice to have a Nana around. :D

My roomie & me. She reads the best bedtime stories.

My roomie is also a pretty good big sister.
She was very good about making sure I knew the correct ways to hold the babies and their bottles. Good thing she was there to help me. :)

We had fun doing roomie things like making treats. I felt like I was at University again except I didn't gain the freshman 15. Haha!!

Joshie Boshie aka The Tongue Man

and Bath Hater. It's kind of chilly at first.

JB is really good at telling jokes. He thinks he's pretty funny anyway. EB is not so sure- she's always rolling her eyes at him. He is the youngest after all. :)

EB is a sweetheart. She love to snuggle against the shoulder and she cries like a little lost kitten. Mew!

She absolutely adored the dwell studio outfit I got for her. She's such a label hound.

EB is already telling secrets. In baby language: aboobeegoogaagaa.
translation=psst, on the count of 3 we cry! 1, 2, 3! Waaaa!!!
(many thanks to my roomie for the translation.)

Bye, Bye babies! I miss you all!

The Soccer Bug Strikes Again

Soccer season has started and both of the older boys are playing AYSO. Meg opted out this year for track which starts soon. This is the little guys first time playing on a real team and boy, he played his first game like he was on fire.

He was totally in the mix. No fear!

I had to keep yelling at him to stop stealing the ball from his Purple Dragon teammates. :D

Those are shorts, by the way, and not a skirt. They were big enough to be.

Aidan plays for the Silver Bullets. I am in the process of making the team banner which is going to totally rock! I will post some pix when it is done. I only get a face shot of him when I yell his name at the top of my lungs. :D

He played well on Saturday. His team is pretty aggressive and Aidan got a couple of assists and scored two goals. Wahoo!

Go, Silver Bullets!

Why Eight Is So Great

We were thrilled to host Aidan's baptism last weekend. All of Aidan's grandparents were able to be there as were some family friends. Matt had the privilege of baptizing Aidan. Twice, even! :D

His Grandpa Cawley confirmed him a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His dad and Grandpa Clark were in the circle. The Spirit was very strong and peaceful.

Aidan has very strong role models in his Grandmas and Grandpas.

I think we had a minimum of four cameras taking photos at one time. It was pretty comical! I told Aidan this was cake compared to a wedding. He wasn't amused. :D

Just one more for mom & dad!

He's a keeper and darn handsome in his shirt & tie. The tie was off as soon as possible. In the parking lot, I believe.

Congratulations to Aidan. We are so proud of you!

Miracles Do Happen

Yes, I am back and yes, it is a miracle. Ha! You all know how life is especially with kids. Life gets busy and some things take a temporary backseat. The latest victim being my blog. Our hard drive is also on the fritz so I am unable to download the pictures for this post. I'll add them later when the computer genius fixes it! So, if anyone is still out there and wants to know what we've been up too here goes.

We celebrated Aidan's 8th birthday last month. We consolidated his two page long wish list into a new bike and Barnes & Noble gift card. He forgave us.

Aidan was stoked to be able to join our church cub scout troop and led the pledge at his first pack meeting. There is nothing cuter then little boys in their cub scout shirts! Ok, well, except for newborn babies. :D

Summer Is Officially Over

The new school year started this week and the kids were ready.

It seems like our summer is super short now and over before we know it!

The 6th grader ready to rule the school.

The 2nd grader- a seasoned veteran.

First Day of Kindergarten.

I have a new preschooler now.
~
The first day of school is always bittersweet. Dropping off my new little kindergartner tugs at the heartstrings. :( I miss my little ones but my house is a little cleaner during the day and that makes Matt a lot happier! :)

I'm An Auntie Again!

Here's my new niece & nephew! Aren't they adorable?

They made an early entrance into the world but we are thrilled to have them here and grateful that they are doing so well. They are already off of cpap and are breathing on their own. yay!

Have I mentioned how much I love newborns? *sigh*
Kisses & hugs to my amazing sister, oh so supportive bil & little r.

Just Checking In

We are still alive. Surviving summer vacation, that is! Sorry I've been a little AWOL here but it is summer and the kids are demanding snacks all day and dips in the pool. Busy but fun!

Why I {Heart} Summer:
Having all my kids home
Sleeping in on Tuesday & Thursday
Wearing grubbies or a swimsuit all day long
(well, maybe not all day. let's not get the wrong idea here.)
Swimming
Seeing Alex jump in the deep end over & over
(with life jacket safely fastened)
Babysitting on demand :D
Otter Pops
Reading A LOT
Sunglasses
Costco Raspberries
The Sun
Utah

******

So, if you were a kid would you love these signs or hate them? I totally want to get them for our upstairs loft. tee hee- aidan just saw me writing this & said, "those are the worst signs ever. eat your vegetables. yuck! don't ever get those!" Hmm, i think that means it's a done deal on my side. :D

(signs from john w. golden)

ps. if you are local & in town you need to come to a huge neighborhood garage sale we are participating in tomorrow. it'll be awesome. 17 families are selling sweet stuff. well, i know my stuff is good! crosswater loop & moonfire. see you there!

Growing Up

My baby's 11. I can't believe how fast time goes by.

2003-age 5

2009-age 11

We had fun celebrating as a family. The highly coveted owl webkinz was a homerun. The person that brainstormed and created Webkinz is a pure genius. I do not know one kid that is not infatuated with the animal/website concept.

The boys like to be involved in any way they can.

Just for mom.

Happy Birthday to my girl!

Hail the Graduate

The preschooler has graduated preschool and is now the kindergartener, the title of which of which he has been eagerly anticipating. To celebrate we attended preschool graduation in all of its pomp and circumstance.

Unfortunately, the preschooler in question was nervous about being in front of dozens of eager and thrilled parents with their flashing cameras and clung and cried to me as I bribed him with an Eegee's.


It did the trick and after the agony of the graduation walk

the preschooler engaged in song for the masses

and the morning finished off with a smile!