"All Through The Night"

Before we moved to our new ward in October, Marcus was asked to play the guitar at the old ward's Christmas party. Our friend, also running the show, picked a beautiful Welsh carol. Marcus worked hard learning the song and played perfectly the night of the party. Two of the young women from the ward sang and it really was a beautiful musical number... even if I am partial:). I wish we had it recorded and then I would post the video but these are a good second.

The entire program was SO GOOD! They used almost the entire primary (putting primary programs to shame) and Reagan never moved from her seat the entire time. Seriously one of the best Christmas programs I have ever seen. (Great job Mirjam!)

Family of Frosties

We LOVE Saturdays at our house. Love, love, love them! Because we are still a one-car family (going on four years) weekday mornings tend to be sort of a drag. A hurried husband wanting to get to work at a decent time, hungry kids that need to be fed, and a wife that is dreading dragging the family out into the single digit temps to drive daddy (the very short distance thankfully) to work. It just isn't the best part of any one's day.

But Saturdays... ahhh... the day where we get to enjoy the morning, cook an enjoyable breakfast together (oven berry pancakes this morning - thanks Maria!), work together (installed electricity to our basement today), and then play play play.


Today's play menu:

Ring around the rosies (helps Ainsley get into the "playing" mood)

Duck, Duck, Goose

Build snowman in the backyard (apparently followed by eat snowman in backyard)



Build snow family in the front yard (thanks to the balmy 30 degrees we can stay out for more than 5 minutes)







And this is only the morning. Have I mentioned that we LOVE Saturdays

Morning Stretch

Some mornings I wake up to this:

and I must say, it makes me smile.

Oh the fun

We were having a lazy Sunday afternoon a couple of weeks ago and I thought I would share some of the fun pictures. Some were taken by Marcus and some were taken by Reagan. These types of days are the best!

Oh the joys of stretchy pants and balls...

Wearing "Grandpa Pants"

Reagan

Reagan is such a great kid! She is a great friend and so much fun to have in our family. Here are a few things about her at 3 years old:

-She LOVES to help me cook, bake, do the dishes or anything else in the kitchen.
-She can spell her name and write her name along with many other letters.
-She loves to play games. She is great at memory, go fish, a puzzle game we have, and a new Candyland game she got for her birthday. She understands games and taking turns etc.
-Reagan really enjoys drawing, writing, painting, play dough (although she prefers making rolls).
-She has really picked up on pretend play and we even had to set the dinner table to include her fairy friends the other evening.
-Her hair is getting long (FINALLY!) and I love to "do" her hair but she prefers one pony in the back and, "no ribbons today mom."
-She plays well with almost any kid. She is just nice and fits in well doing whatever. She is up for anything.
-She is great at giving hugs and telling me that she loves me. She also loves to snuggle.
-She is more into books now (another finally!) and one of her favorite series is the Berenstain Bears. She is getting good at reading books to herself also.
-Music and dancing are probably her favorite things ever. She loves to dance to Marcus playing the guitar. She is constantly dancing to anything (and dressing up) and has gotten very good at slow movements and fast movements. It is so fun to watch her interpret the music.
-She is a great sister. She is really good to Ainsley most of the time and the other night when Ainsley got in trouble for biting Marcus, Reagan was right there at her defense (we say, "no Ainsley" followed by Ainsley crying hysterically from hurt feelings followed by Reagan crying because, "that is my sister!").
-Although Reagan loves many things her top has to be friends. Every day she wants to play with friends. She is a people person and loves to be in the thick of things.

I love you Reagan!

Don't want to forget

This is a conversation we had with Reagan at the dinner table Thursday night.

Reagan (with excited raised eyebrowsand shoulders): Is tonight Family Home Evening?
Me: Nope, that is Monday.
Reagan (eyebrows, shoulders, high pitched voice): Is tonight Family Movie Night?
Me: Nope, not tonight.
Reagan (eyebrows, shoulders, high voice, and more excitement): Is tonight Christmas?
Me (smiling): Not tonight.
Reagan (ultimate excitment): Is tonight R. E. A. G. A. N. birthday?
Marcus and I: Pure laughter

Reagan is totally into spelling lately and this conversation had us cracking up.

Thanksgiving 2008

This year we spent Thanksgiving with our friends the Kirkhams. They are such a gracious family and had us, another new family in the area and 4 Elders. It was a party to say the least.

The food was fabulous and we were shocked at how much food was left over. I think when you hear 4 Elders you sort of plan for the worst:). The kids also had a great time playing and running around while Marcus played the guitar.

We have many blessings and are extremely grateful that we had a place to celebrate Thanksgiving. With that said we are also feeling homesick for our families and friends (Marcus and I heavily debated driving to Indiana on a red eye trip to crash Thanksgiving with the Nelsons and Henries - we miss you guys!) Happy Thanksgiving!

Birthday Festivities go on and on and on and on

Today we hosted Reagan's birthday party. We debated having a party but in the end decided to give it a go. Reagan was VERY excited! Since the majority of her friends are boys (all but one) AND since our house is a construction zone we had a Bob The Builder Construction Party... minus Bob.

It turned out perfect. We had five kiddos including Reags (Liam, William, Ammon, and Elise). The kids mostly played in the basement where it is a free for all. We gave everyone a tool apron and a couple of tools (screwdriver, measuring tape, carpenters pencil) and had a couple of boxes of wood for them to play with. They were also encouraged to write where ever they pleased:).

Marcus headed up games of building the tallest tower, and the sock toss into the sheet rock. He also helped them measure and mark different spots on the floor and sheet rock. After the kids played we had them eat their sack lunch and then open presents and eat cupcakes. It was AWESOME to hear 3 year old kids sing Happy Birthday together!

Reagan loved having balloons in the house and even feel asleep with one.

After a very busy quiet time for Mom and Dad (painting, sheet rocking, and more painting) we decided to get out of the house for dinner.We took our partying to Red Robin. Reagan learned at Ainsley's birthday that restaurants do special things for birthdays so she was very excited. Sure enough they sang her a very festive song and presented her with 3 balloons and a large Sundae. We even let her eat some of it (I am sure I will pay for this later with the whole milk allergy but I just couldn't resist letting her have some). The pictures say it all.

And now the birthday festivities are finished.

Happy Birthday Reagan!

Reagan turned 3 on Monday. She has been counting down the days and was so excited to wake up and have it FINALLY be her birthday. Growing up we always opened presents at the breakfast table and this tradition has continued.

Marcus and I spent several hours the night before preparing for the big day. I baked rolls (her request for dinner) and Marcus wrapped presents. We both tried desperately to cover up "Ainsley" in the Happy Birthday sign I drew on our new wall with washable marker. Who knew it would refuse to be covered up! After 3 coats of primer and a good washing with no change in appearance (seriously!!??) we finally opted to cover it up with a paper sign. Any ideas on how to get it off so we can someday have a normal wall? We would love your suggestions. Anyway, back to our birthday girl... in the morning we were all excited for Reagan to see our table spread and signs but the girl just didn't notice. It was almost amusing. She just got right to helping me make her breakfast waffles (again her choice). Marcus miraculously managed to catch her on camera when she finally turned around and noticed the table and birthday sign.

She immediately fitted herself with her birthday crown (a purchase we made together about a month ago) and then reacquainted herself with her new princess purse (a gift that Grandma left in the dresser drawer and Reagan quickly located long before her birthday).

The rest of the gifts were then opened. Here are some of her favorites that Grandma and Grandpa sent. Have I mentioned that this girl LOVES dress-ups and changes clothes about eighty gazillion times a day?

After breakfast we loaded up to take Daddy to work and I come around the corner to see this beauty ready to get into the car. Game day shoes and all!

As soon as we were back home the dress ups began followed by the necessary twirling

We then proceeded to have one of the worst "3 year old days" EVER! Seriously I think she must have gotten a letter announcing that it was time for her act differently. After spending a good portion of her time in time out (I only give time outs for serious offenses ie: shoving, hitting, dropping a full sippy on a happy sister's head with a smirk on your face kind of stuff) we made it nap time. I was hoping that this would be the end of our troubles and our happy 3 year old would emerge from her slumber but it was not so. This is not to say that we didn't have our good moments. Decorating her cake was one of those moments. We had a great time and she mostly cooperated (okay so I showed her how to decorate on the front and let her have at the back keeping us both happy). This little princess cake turned out pretty good for a first try (thanks to tips from Aunt Stephanie!) and it was a shining moment in our day.

When Marcus came home from work we had a quick dinner and then one of Reagan's favorite friends, Anna, and her family came over for cake and ice cream. Of course right before our guests arrive Reagan pooped her pants as the final act in our lovely day. Luckily, Reagan was thrilled to have guests to help her celebrate and she calmed down and had a great time playing house and dress ups with Anna. They had a blast eating cake and even more fun scraping all the frosting off the barbie with their fingers.

**Still not sure what caused yesterday's crazy behavior but we were extremely grateful to have our sweet girl back this morning!

A visit from Clifford Bufford

Marcus' best buddy (and my good friend too) Cliff came to visit us this month. I say visit but he really came to help us out with our house. And help us out he did! We are now the proud owners of a framed basement!

From the pictures it is hard to see all the beautiful detail, like the closets and the rooms, but believe me it is fabulous! Cliff said the basement would be framed and I wondered if they would actually be able to get the project done but sure enough after working until 4 in the morning twice (and almost two weeks besides) I have a framed basement that is insulated AND even has some sheet rock. I took pictures but the faulty camera we are using decided to break and the pictures were lost forever. The following are the only two pictures I have.

Seriously, we always LOVE having Cliff visit. He did so much for us and we did very little "playing" this trip which is very unlike Marcus. We did manage a quick visit to the Mall of America where Cliff and Reagan went on a kiddie ride that had me laughing so hard I was in tears. (Cliff: what does this ride do? Me: I have no idea. It is little cars and they probably just go in circles. Actually it was a ride that whips you around the corner shoving you into the person you are riding with. I had turned my back and so only heard the first corner... Cliff screaming and look up to see both he and Reagan recovering just in time for corner two. By the end of the ride Cliff had convinced Reagan to fly around the corners with hands in the air.) Reagan adores Cliff and has informed me several times since his departure that she misses him.

I must admit it was one tearful goodbye. I think the first time ever that our entire family cried at the same time (Ainsley just mad about being in the car seat though). Good times, good times. Come again Cliff. Next time we will play more than we work;)

Kitchen update

We finally had our kitchen counter tops and sink installed (for those counting... 6 weeks after we moved in). I was so happy all day! We had three different contractors at our house at the same time all making noise and I was still on cloud nine. No more sheet rock counter tops (although they did save us - Thanks Dad!)

We still need paint and a back splash but other than that our kitchen is nearing completion. HOORAY!!!

*Pardon the mess. I figured a picture with a mess was better than none:)

Did you know?

We have a hallway downstairs....





And an office/bedroom...

The door opening is for french doors (one of the only walls that were already up when we bought the house).





Yaaaaahhhooooooo!!

No Good Very Bad Day

Yesterday was one of those days...

Reagan very cheerfully dropped an entire brand new LARGE can of cashews onto the floor one handfull at a time.

While she was cleaning up the first mess Reagan was distracted by the heating/ac vent and decided to drop the cashews she had previously cleaned up into the vent. Lovely.

"That is not very fun!" became a phrase I was sick of hearing by lunchtime. Where did she learn this?

Ainsley decided that an afternoon nap would be unneccesary making for a very LONG and whiny afternoon.

Too many phone calls that had to deal with house "issues"

Reagan slapping me across the face (not meant to be a slap but definately meant to be a hit) as I am trying to leave the playground to go pick up Marcus.

To top it all off I realized AFTER the dr's offices were closed that I had a bladder infection.

Here is to tomorrow!

The things they say

We were driving down the road this past week and Reagan said, "Mom, that car has the same floor as us!" Marcus and I were cracking up. We did get new floor in our kitchen and it looks very similar to the lovely paneling on this car. Who can debate that?

Pumpkin Carving 2008

Reagan loved carving pumpkins.

She helped everyone clean out the "gunk"...

even when the pumkin was bigger than her

This picture cracks me up! She just finished saying, "It's not too heavy. I can do it by myself". Look at her strained face. Hilarious!

Her finished Jack

All lit up and ready for the big night

Happy Halloweeen