365 Simple Joys

Dec. 19 through Dec. 25

2010-06-11T13:31:00.001-07:00

Dec. 12 through Dec. 18

2010-06-11T13:28:00.000-07:00

No pictures again this week...we have been busy getting ready for Christmas and dealing with illness...lots of bad coughs and fevers. Hopefully we're better next week!

Dec. 5 through Dec. 11

2010-06-11T13:18:00.000-07:00

Friday, Dec. 10
Natalie got a cute haircut this week...front and back views. Our stylist even put glitter in her hair which Natalie absolutely loved!

Thursday, Dec. 9
Natalie made this cute gingerbread house at preschool today...she had a cute garden in the yard as well that she was very proud of.

Tuesday, Dec. 7
First lost tooth and visit from the toothfairy...wahoo! Ben had to have the dentist pull out the tooth since the permanent tooth was coming in behind the baby tooth. Ben was very brave and sat patiently while the dentist took out the baby tooth. He was very excited to have finally lost a tooth! The tooth fairy was very generous too!

Monday, Dec. 6
Ben and Natalie love to help shovel snow...and then come inside and have hot chocolate or apple cider to warm up!

Sunday, Dec. 5
New Christmas Sunday outfits...looking good!

Nov. 28 through Dec. 4

2010-06-11T13:05:00.001-07:00

Saturday, Dec. 4
Decorating our annual Gingerbread House...last year we went all out with a homemade version but this year we went with the storebought kit...still turned out cute and fun.

Friday, Dec. 3
Enjoying a Friday night movie treat!

Thursday, Dec. 2
Natalie enjoying her bike in rocker form inside since outside weather is not so fun.

Wednesday, Dec. 1
Not sure what she was eating but it looks like it was yummy!

Tuesday, Nov. 30
Our tree is officially up and the kids are loving the house decorated for Christmas!

Monday, Nov. 28
Our Countdown to Christmas candy chain ready to go!

Nov. 22 through Nov. 27

2010-06-11T13:02:00.000-07:00

Wow...no pictures this week! We enjoyed Thanksgiving at Great Grandma White's house this year and took the kids to see a new Walt Disney version of A Christmas Carol. It was a fun movie though a little scary for the kids at times.

Nov. 15 through Nov. 21

2010-06-11T12:31:00.000-07:00

Not much in the way of pictures this week...

Ben's First Grade Program...it was a packed house and getting pictures was difficult as you can see. So, we ended up taking a few at home with his props from the program.

On Saturday we headed up to Grandma Facer's house...they are putting it up for sale since she passed away on Halloween. They were cleaning it out and letting the grandkids come through and find treasures to take home. Our finds included this Santa Claus snowglobe, an exercise trampoline (which the kids love) some dress up jewelry, a big cooking pot and firewood carrying bag that Bryan's Mom made a long time ago.

November 8 through November 14

2010-06-11T12:13:00.000-07:00

Sunday, Nov. 8
Natalie sporting her new snow boots!

Monday, Nov. 9
Keeping busy with a little painting project.

Tuesday, Nov. 10
Loving the beautiful leaves this time of year...Ben and Natalie loved jumping in them and throwing them around. A fun tradition we enjoy every year!

Wednesday, Nov. 11
Natalie helping Ben with his nightly homework session...sometimes it goes smoother than other days...tonight went pretty well as you can see from the smiling faces.

Thursday, Nov. 12
Afterschool break...a little TV time!

Friday, Nov. 13
Natalie "helping" Daddy with a little handyman project. One of the slats in the bed got cracked from too many monkeys jumping on the bed!

Saturday, Nov. 14
First big snowfall of the year...Ben and Natalie enjoying making snowangels and snowballs.

November 1 through November 7

2009-11-10T20:53:00.000-08:00

I'm so lacking pictures for this week so I thought I go back a year and post pictures from our life one year ago...my how the kids have grown up!

October 25 through October 31

2009-11-10T20:39:00.000-08:00

We had a fun week of Halloween activites. Here are some of my favorite photos from the week:

Our annual front porch photo on our way out the door to go Trick-or-Treating.

Our Halloween supper with the Emery's...black bean soup and quesadillas, oh and a steaming witches brew!

The girls in the Trick-or-Treating group...so cute!

Batman and Robin...what a pair!

Checking out the loot...when I was a kid we always we sorted our candy into piles of like candy to see what we got the most of. So I taught me kids to do the same. Snickers was the winner for both...to bad they don't love them!

Game at Nana and Grandpa's Halloween party...Pass the Pumpkin!

Family photo from Nana and Grandpa's party...Bryan and I borrowed some SuperHero costumes...don't we look great!

Carving pumpkins! Bryan did a great job tryin to make Snow White for Natalie.

Ben's school Halloween parade...he was so funny and even did a little Robin maneuver for us.

Making Halloween sugar cookies for FHE...yum!

Oct 18 through Oct 24

2009-11-10T20:16:00.001-08:00

Sunday, Oct. 18

My sweet and talented friend, Erin, took our family pictures today for our Christmas cards. She was so kind to take an hour Sunday afternoon to take our pictures. She did a great job. This one's not going on the card, but I love it so I'll post it here.

Monday, Oct. 19

Ben and Daddy got haircuts this afternoon...what a handsome guy!

Tuesday, OCt. 20

We all went to the dentist today...I didn't take my camera there but when we came home they posed with their new toothbrushes for me. Gotta love a new toothbrush! They both did great at the dentist and loved getting chocolate when we were done...what dentist gives candy at the end of a checkup? This was our first visit to this dentist but we loved him and will definitely be going back.

Wednesday, Oct. 21

Still loving the weather and being off track...we went to the fishing hole at The Cove and watched the ducks and old men fishing.

Thursday, Oct. 22

This one was actually from yesterday...so not perfect about taking a picture everyday. We took a picnic to the park and loved being outside!

Friday, Oct. 23

Bryan went to Costco for me while I taught piano lessons. Natalie went with him and they came back with this pretty surprise for me. Natalie spilled the beans though and came downstairs to tell me they were back..."and actually Mom, we bought you flowers!" What a wonderful husband.

Saturday, Oct. 24

We had our Ward Halloween party last night and part of the party was painting pumpkins. With the crowd a the paint table, however, we ended up painting them at home this morning. Natalie and I painted her's purple with a black spiderweb over it and Ben painted the Robin symbol on one side and a bat on the other.

Oct. 11 through Oct. 17

2009-11-10T20:06:00.000-08:00

Sunday, Oct. 11

Here's my cute bedheads having Sunday breakfast of pancakes. Love Sunday mornings.

Monday, Oct. 12

We've had some wonderful weather and enjoyed some park time while Ben's off track. They love finding new parks to test out. This was a fun one.

Tuesday, Oct. 13

We made our annual trip to Gardner Village to see the witches they put on display. It turned out to be an extremely crowded day to visit so our pictures are not so great but we had fun doing the witch hunt and making a stop at the candy store for our favorite taffy and sampling fudge.

Wednesday, Oct. 14

We went on a leaf hunt this afternoon and then made some leaf rubbings as part of Ben's off track homework. I love leaf hunts!

Thursday, Oct. 15

Natalie loves helping in the kitchen...she loves eating these potato pearls dry out of the bin...then decided she would use it for a stool.

Friday, Oct. 18

One of Ben's favorite things about being off track is staying in your PJ's all morning. These 2 got out the playdough first thing this morning and had fun rolling it out together. I love it when they can play well together.

Saturday, Oct. 19

I love dressing up as a witch for Halloween...it was my favorite costume as a kid. Don't you think this little one make a pretty darn cute witch?

Oct 4 through Oct 10

2009-10-10T21:46:00.000-07:00

Sunday, Oct 4

I don't have a picture for today so I looked in my picture folders to see if I had a picture from this date last year and I found these cute pictures of my kids at the pumpkin patch last year. It's fun to see how they grown and changed in a year. I've actually been thinking a lot lately about how grown up they are looking. Time seems to go by faster and faster the older I get.

Monday, Oct 5

Here's this year's picture from the pumpkin patch. The weather looked much warmer in last year's pictures! It was actually lightly snowing when we left the house. Thankfully it cleared up enough to gather our picks for this year. We love this little local patch near our home and this year they added some cute little wheelbarrows for the kids.

Tuesday, Oct 6

Nana gave the kids some outlines of paperdolls. They spent the day coloring them in. Ben did a great job making his look like his Halloween costume...Robin. And Natalie had me color hers to look like Natalie...how's I do?

Wednesday, Oct 7

I recently made several of these hooded towels for my kids and for gifts. I am teaching a sewing class for Enrichment tomorrow on how to make these as well as "No Sew" tutus.

Thursday, Oct 8

We went to a local apple farm for Natalie's first preschool fieldtrip today. We enjoyed a hay ride, a tour of their cider mill, and got to pick our own apple from the orchard. We bought a big box of apples to make applesauce and learned some interesting things about apples and farming.

Friday, Oct 9

So after buying a big box of delicious Jonathon apples yesterday, I spent the morning making homemade applesauce. It turned out well and we now have 18 pints of applesauce in food storage. I did, however, manage to break my blender in the process...oh well!

Saturday, Oct 10

For the last 5 years, we have cleaned a commerical office building for Bryan's uncle to earn a little extra money. Today was our last time cleaning as the responsibility is being passed onto someone else. A bittersweet ending. Our kids have spent time each Saturday, playing at Nana and Grandpa's house while we cleaned. We are definitely going to miss playing there each week and might have to make a few trips out just for fun!

Sept 27 through Oct 3

2009-10-10T20:44:00.001-07:00

Sunday, Sept 27

Today is my 32nd birthday. Happy Birthday to me! Here's a picture of me on my third birthday. My mom was great about making us cute homemade birthday cakes...a tradition I have tried to carry on with my own kids.

Monday, Sept 28

Here's Ben and Natalie enjoying a FHE treat before bed. We went out "Booing" for FHE. A fun tradition we like to start each year. We take some treats to a few neighbors with a poem declaring ourselves a Halloween phantom and asking them to share it with someone else. Ben and Natalie loved watching Daddy leave the treats and then run as fast as he could to our getaway spot.

Tuesday, Sept 29

Fall has definitely taken over Summer with cooler temperatures. The cool mornings have lead to this scene...the fire going to warm up two little ones.

Wednesday, Sept 30

Yep...it's lightly snowing on Sept. 30th! It has been unseasonally cool this past week. Brr!

Thursday, Oct 1

It's UEA weekend this week and Ben starts his first off track session. Bryan also had the day off and so we headed up to a Harvest Carnival at Hogle Zoo. We enjoyed seeing the baby elephant and playing a few games.

Friday, Oct 2

We've been pulling out the garden and flowers this week since the frost put an abrupt end to their beauty. We grew some giant sunflowers and here is the harvest from that adventure. They were fun to watch grow but a bit of a pain to take care off and then to pull them out as well. We're going to dry out the flower heads and harvest some seeds for roasting. Does anyone like sunflower seeds? We've got plenty!

Saturday, Oct 3

We put out our Halloween decorations this weekend. In our collection, we have several items that spell Boo. Natalie pointed to one after Ben had been reading them all and said..."Boo...hey that's my name!" Awhile ago, Bryan's Dad started calling her NannyBoo and then lately just Boo. It was cute how she made the connection.

Sept 20 through Sept 26

2009-10-07T15:20:00.000-07:00

Another theme week...this is the first official week of Fall. I LOVE this season and have posted Fall favorites each day:

Sunday, Sept 20

I love the beautiful, colorful leaves changing and the temperatures cooling off. Our next door neighbor has some beautiful trees in their front yard that are always the first to change colors.

Monday, Sept 21

Harvest...I love farmers markets, gardening, canning, and all things harvest.

Tuesday, Sept 22

Pumpkins! The grocery stores and local patches are stocking colorful orange piles They are fun and festive. We'll pick some up from a local pumpkin patch later on!

Wednesday, Sept 23

More pumpkins...these are some Jack Be Littles from our garden.

Thursday, Sept 24

Apples...my neighbor and friend gave us these delicious apples from her family farm in Ogden. My kids have been enjoying them everyday!

Friday, Sept 25

Halloween decorations...the stores have been stocking decorations, costumes, and candy for the last few weeks. I love cute, whimiscal Halloween decorations. My friend gave me this cute soap dispenser for my birthday!

Saturday, Sept 26

Fall means Football! Bryan is a big BYU fan and looks forward to games each weekend. He has season tickets to the games with his brother and Dad. They love it and it has been a long standing tradition to go to the games together. Several people on our street have BYU flags and so I endulged him with an early Christmas gift so he would stop envying the neigbors! The kids got BYU T-Shirts as well and love wearing them on game days with Daddy!

Sept 13 through Sept 19

2009-10-07T15:15:00.002-07:00

Theme for the week...Our House. We have lived in our home almost seven years! I can't believe how quickly the time has flown by. I think it's interesting to look back at pictures of my parents home and how it has changed over the years. While, we have changed a few things in our home since we moved in...a little paint, finishing the basement, and changing furniture a little, for the most part it hasn't changed a whole lot since we've lived here. Here's a pictorial tour:

Sunday, Sept 13

An outside few of the house...I took this after I pulled out the flowers for the winter.

Monday, Sept 14

The family room and kitchen areas.

Tuesday, Sept 15

Master bedroom and bathroom.

Wednesday, Sept 16

Ben's room.

Thursday, Sept 17

Natalie's room.

Friday, Sept 18

Downstairs family room.

Saturday, Sept 19

The downstairs bedrooms...
the bathroom, exercise room, play room, and my craft room:)

Sept 6 through Sept 12

2009-10-07T15:15:00.001-07:00

Sunday, Sept 6

Monday, Sept 7

We came home from running errands and Natalie decided to watch TV while I prepared dinner...a few minutes later I heard soft snoring coming from the couch. Must have been a boring movie!

Tuesday, Sept 8

Since school started, this is a typical scene in the evening at our house...Ben doing homework at the dinner table while I finish preparing dinner. Natalie doesn't want to be left out, and so finds her own "homework" to do.

Wednesday, Sept 9

The tomatoes in our garden our slowly coming on...which means homemade salsa and Sweet Red Pepper Relish. I haven't canned salsa for a long time but my friend taught an Enrichment class on canning tomatoes and shared some great recipes. So with a dozen tomato plants this year, I'm trying them out!

Thursday, Sept 10

The stores are already preparing for Halloween and putting out treats and costumes. Ben and Natalie had their first pieces of Halloween candy today...Yum! Natalie was wearing it our her lips...accidentally. And Ben wanted to show his off "train wreck" style...ugh!

Friday, Sept 11

Tis the season for preserving...Beckie's mother in law has a farmer in Farmington that she gets fruit from every year. She was kind enough to get some for me too and this is what I started with on a Friday evening...3 bushels of peaches and one bushel of pears. The canning begins and...

Saturday, Sept 12

...after a late Friday night and early Saturday morning, I had 30+ quarts of peaches and 15 quarts of pears. Whew...I thought about doing another bushel of pears but I just can't muster up any more canning ambition this week!
I've got more peaches to freeze and more tomatoes in the garden!

Aug. 31 through Sept. 5

2009-09-08T09:13:00.000-07:00

Sunday, Aug. 30

Ben and Natalie got new Sunday shoes this week and kindly modeled them for the camera before we headed out the door!

Monday, Aug. 31

Just another harvest picture for you...the garden's doing well!

Tuesday, Sept. 1

Natalie is so good at emptying out toy bins and playing all kids of fun things. Today she emptyied out her hair assessoroy bin and made herself look quite cute! Headbands make great belts!

Wednesday, Sept. 2

Thursday, Sept. 3

Natalie started preschool this week. She was so excited and has been anticipating it all summer. We do a little cooperative neighborhood preschool where several mom's take turns teaching once a week. She has a fun time and learned all about our sense of smell!

Friday, Sept. 4

We went camping with the Lee's and Peterson's this weekend and enjoyed a fun night in the canyon. We roasted marshmellows and played games and then head to bed in the tent. The kids actually slept really well and loved camping!

Saturday, Sept. 5

We hiked up to Donut Falls this morning...Ben did well going up but was a little grumpy heading down...Natalie was spoiled and got carried most of the way there and back! It was a fun hike though and the falls were pretty!

Aug. 23 through Aug. 30

2009-09-08T08:46:00.001-07:00

Sunday, Aug. 23

We hosted Peterson FHE tonight and Ben and Natalie decided to show off their "Chicken Dance". Natalie's been practicing it at her little Wee Sing class on Wednesday's.

Monday, Aug. 24

For Bryan's day off today, we took Natalie up to the zoo. They have several new baby animals...an elephant, giraffe, tigers, and snow leopards. We took Aunt Jen and Bryson along as well. It started out cool and overcast but ended up being rather hot. We enjoyed one last showing of the bird show before the summer's over.

Tuesday, Aug. 25

We've tried to head outside after dinner to enjoy the last of the warm summer nights. The days are starting to shorten and we want to enjoy the light evening while they last. Being outside in the summer though often means dirty feet! The picture doesn't quite show all the dirt..they were pretty black!

Wednesday, Aug. 26

Even though Ben's moved on to First Grade and loves it, he still likes to get out his Kindergarten portfolio and movie and reminisce about being in Mrs. Craven's class.

Thursday, Aug. 27

Natalie has enjoyed playing with Haydn this week..he was sick last week and she's missed her little buddy. She was excited to have him come over to play now that he's feeling better.

Friday, Aug. 28

Ben loved wearing his goggles in the tub this week and trying to view the toys underwater. He worked up the courage to stick his face in the water but not after much careful planning of how to plug his nose and make sure his goggles wouldn't leak!

Saturday, Aug. 29

We spend the evening outside after dinner while the kids rode their bikes and scooters up and down the street. Natalie calls this little push toy her "scooter" and actually rides it quite gracefully like a scooter. Ben raced up and down passsed her. Good times!

Aug. 16 through Aug. 22

2009-09-08T08:44:00.000-07:00

We had a really rough week at our house this week and taking pictures just didn't happen...I was reading on a friend's blog how everyone seems to post their best on their blogs but that just isn't always how things are. So, I thought I would just make a little note that while we have lots of good moments and many things that bring joy and fun, sometimes life is just hard and that's okay. I feel like I want this 365 journal to show the ups and downs. There is much to be learned in our trials. This week has definitley been one where I have reflected on what is really important and what am I doing as a wife, mother, and woman.

August 9 through August 15

2009-08-12T21:01:00.000-07:00

Sunday, Aug. 9

We don't usually have dessert after dinner, except on Sunday's. Summer dessert is sweet and simple...ice cream cones! You can see how much the kids loved them as they wore just as much on their faces as they put in their tummies!

Monday, Aug. 10

Natalie loves having friends over. Today she rediscovered our little baby wading pool and invited Rachel to come over and cool off. Silly girls posing for the camera!

Tuesday, Aug. 11

Thanksgiving Point has $2 Tuesday's in August. I decided to take Natalie down to visit their farm country but when we got there I was surprised to see incredibly long lines! We ended up at the Children's Discovery Gardens since it had the shortest line. We enjoyed it for the first little bit but then as the afternoon heated up, we were both ready to get out of the sun! The first picture was at the start of our visit but by the end, Natalie wasn't interested in smilng for any pictures not matter how beautiful the flowers were!

Wednesday, Aug. 12

We've been walking to school every morning. Ben and several of the other neighborhood kids ride their scooters and the Mom's follow behind and try to keep up. It can been a bit of craziness sometimes with all the bikes and scooters and Mom's with strollers heading down the main street to school. We often end up scraping a kid or two off the sidewalks some days but it's lots of fun most of the time!

Thursday, Aug. 13

A little harvesting...tomatoes, peppers, carrots, zuccinhi, and lemon squash.

Friday, Aug. 14

Just a random silly face on a Friday afternoon.

Saturday, Aug. 15

The kids ended up emptying Natalie's closet and carting it all downstairs to play while I worked in the basement and they tried to stay quiet while Daddy slept. Thank heavens for the toy organizers we have which makes cleaning up pretty easy!

August 2 through August 8

2009-08-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

Sunday, Aug. 2

This year we planted some giant sunflowers in our garden and one of them bloomed today. They have grown to be quite tall...some of them tower over me and this bloom is the size of a dinner plate. They have been fun to watch grow. They definitely love the sun and I love watching them at different times of the day. In the morning the buds are facing the east, at noon they are straight up and in the evening they are facing west. I forget somtimes that they are living creatures and do what they need to feed, grow, reproduce, heal and fend off bugs. While these sunflowers have been fun to grow, I discovered that they attract all kinds of beetles, moths, bees, ladybugs and even squash bugs. Luckily I haven't had squash bugs this year but they have been eaten a little by the sunflower beetles. We'll see how they turn out...they may not be something I repeat on account of the bugs!

Monday, Aug. 3

Last spring we planted 3 fruit trees and this year the peach tree budded and produced some little peaches. I thinned them down quite a bit but let several grow to see how they turned out. Bryan picked them today and whilte they are small, they sure taste great!

Tuesday, Aug. 4

This is what happens when you mix poor table manners and grape Kool-aid! Natalie and Ben were being silly at dinner and playing with their drinks. In a fit of laughter, Natalie's mouthful of grape Koolaid exploded all over her...quickly putting an end to the laughter as you can see. While I hope she learned her lesson, I'm sure we haven't seen an end to poor table manners at the Peterson home!

Wednesday, Aug. 5

Natalie sure has missed her big brother since he started first grade...she loves when he finally comes home and is willing to give her some attendtion. After a long day for both of them, they snuggled up on the couch to watch a movie together...I wish every moment could be so sweet.

Thursday, Aug. 6

Haydn is one of Natalie's favorite playmates and she asks daily for him to come over and even insists on being the one to call him. They love to empty her closet and pretend all sorts of things. Lately they love to play "Disneyland" and dress up as the princesses to sign autograph books.

Friday, Aug. 7

My friend, Michelle, has sent me a few pictures this week from Kindergarten that she took. This one was from Mom's and Muffins Day last fall. It's funny how things in the past can seem like yesterday and like forever ago at the same time. It feels like I blinked and Kindergarten was over...Ben even looks so much younger in this picture. I guess it's like trying to hold onto a handful of water...eventually it trickles out between your fingers. Try as I might, I can't keep my kids from growing up...I just wish it didn't happen so fast!

Saturday, Aug. 8

As I mentioned last week, my kids love getting a hold of the camera and taking pictures. I now have many pictures in my photo gallery that look like this...maybe I need to sign them up for a photography class?

July 26th through August 1

2009-08-02T14:35:00.000-07:00

Sunday, July 26th

Sunday means cute curls and bows and dresses for Natalie. It's the one day a week that I can get her to let me really do her hair. The rest of the week it's usually thrown together since she lacks the patience to let me fix it. The longer it gets the more it looks so messy. When she was younger it was curlier and easier to just put a bow in it. Now it's another story. I miss that 18 mo. old hair she had!

Monday, July 27th

The dog days of summer mean lots of popsicles at our house. They're even tastier when shared with cousins and friends!

Tuesday, July 28th

Today was Ben's first full day of 1st Grade. Yesterday he met his teacher, Mrs. Joffs and saw his classroom. He was a little nervous but did much better than I thought and tolerated everything pretty well. I was more worked up about than he was! It's a big step for a mother to send her oldest to school all day and know that someone else has more influence in his day than she does.

Wednesday, July 29th

My sister Jennie, and I signed up to be the PTA co presidents at school this year. Neither of us really wanted the job but since no one else would do it we thought we'd do it together. We went to the school work room today to make copies and Natalie and Haydn came along. Jennie took her picture out in the hall...she looks like she's not so sure about this assignment either!

Thursday, July 30th

Ben and Natalie have decided their new favorite toy is our camera and they are constantly grabbing it to take pictures. I have several pictures now stored on my computer o random, out of focus shots that they have taken. They love trying to take self-portraits. Here's Natalie's.

Friday, July 31st

Here's Ben's attempt at a self portrait.

Saturday, Aug. 1st

July 19th through July 25th

2009-07-23T16:47:00.003-07:00

This week we spent time on a "Staycation" with Bryan's family. Each day we visited some local sites and enjoyed fun being together. It was a busy, fun week...but oh so hot. The heat definitely didn't bring out the best in all of us by the end of the day but we did manage to have lots of fun throughout the week.

Sunday, July 19th

Sunday dinners at one of the grandparents house is a week tradition. We enjoy getting together with cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents for food, games, FHE, and catching up on each other lives. It's a great way to stay close as a family.

Monday, July 20th

Today we went to Casade Springs and toured the pools and scenery. We had a picnic in the canyon and then stopped off at Aspen Grove's BYU Creamery for some ice cream. On the way home, we stopped at Bridal Veil Falls and cooled our feet in the ice cold water. It was fun to go to Casade Springs...I haven't been their for many years but remember going there as a child. I remember the smells of that park...similar to Yellowstone. I scanned a childhood picture of me and mom and younger sister there. Fun memories.

Tuesday, July 21st

Second on the Staycation schedule was boating at Pine View Reservior. This was my kids favorite day of the whole week I think. Ben loved playing in the sand and water and even went out on the tube that Uncle Shaun pulled behind his boat. He loved it and couldn't get enough! Natalie wasn't sure about any of it at first but we talked in to going in Grandpa's fishing boat and then the big boat. She even decided she try the tube too and loved it! It was fun day in the sun and we all came home tired and a little sunburned.

Wednesday, July 22nd

Today was a bit of a struggle for us. Still tired from a big day of boating, Ben and Natalie were a bit on the grumpy side. We visited the Children's Discovery Museum at the Gateway and then the Church History Museum at Temple Square. We cooled off with a drink from McDonald's as we watched some of the construction going on downtown. We then watched the Joseph Smith movie at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and ate dinner at the Lion House Pantry. The heat definitely got the best of us today but all in all we enjoyed the day.

Thursday, July 23rd

Today we enjoyed some cooler temperatures as we traveled up to Snowbird to ride the tram. At the top of the mountain it was about 20 degrees cooler than in the valley and it sure helped with yesterday's moodiness. If was beautiful scenery, there was even still some snow drifts still melting up that high. We hiked down a bit and rode the chair lift back down. I was nervous to ride with my 2 kids alone, but Grandma Cindy jumped on with us and my kids didn't think twice the height. Again, gorgeous views and a nice cool breeze. After a picnic lunch, we toured the Living Planet Aquarium and got to see their new addition with fish and frogs and snakes from South America.

Friday, July 24th

To celebrate Pioneer Day today, we had a family breakfast and Grandpa and Grandma Cindy's church bowery and then played some water relay races at their house. The kids loved the games and it was a fun morning. Later in the day with headed to Nana and Grandpa's to have a BBQ and fireworks with some other cousins.

Saturday, July 25th

For our final Stacation event, we went bowling at All Star Lanes and then out to lunch at Mountain Mike's Pizza Place. Everyone enjoyed bowling and eating pizza together. We even managed to get a few strikes and spares...Ben won the game of course!

July 12 through July 18th

2009-07-23T16:47:00.001-07:00

Another theme for the week...places we frequent.

Sunday, July 12th

Church of course. We've lived out here for 7 years and have been in several wards and a couple of stakes and 3 different buildings. The rapid growth in Herriman meant frequent ward and stake splits or boundary changes. We've been in our current ward for a few years now and have been at this building for a couple of years. We love our ward and friends and neighbors.

Monday, July 13th

The local library. This is a temporary location until a full size library is built in Herriman. We usually make it here once a week for a fresh load of books, movies, and CD's.

Tuesday, July 14th

The grocery store. Herriman's growing by the minute and we're lucky to have a few more things close my. This is a neighborhood Smith's and we love to shop here. It's clean and organized, we usually see someone we know, and the produce is great! My kids love riding in the truck carts or pushing the mini carts around if we can find one.

Wednesday, July 15th

Target. It seems like we end up here at least once a week. I love the dollar section in the store and can usually find something great in it. The kids love checking out the toy aisles, and usually beg to buy something. Unfortuntely they often win!

Thursday, July 16th

The park. When weather and time permit, my kids love to make it to the park. There are several in the area and we rotate which one we visit. They love the parks with swings. We discovered a "secret park" last summer that's enclosed in some open space behind some house. You have to walk there and it's not visible from the road...hense the name "secret park". It's one of our favorites, however when the weather's hot we love the splash park!

Friday, July 17th

The neighborhood...we love our friends and neighbors and love hanging out in the front yard visiting with everyone hanging outside as well. It's great to live in a community with lots of great families around to rub shoulders with.

Saturday, July 18th

Nana and Grandpa's house...we clean an office building for extra money on Saturday's. Fortunately it's near my parents home and the kids can play there while Bryan and I clean. My kids can never get enough of Nana and Grandpa's house...there's always lots of toys, treats, juice, games, movies, jumping on the trampoline and time with Aunt Sissa!

July 5th through July 11th

2009-07-23T16:46:00.000-07:00

When I began this 365 blog I thought it would be fun to have themes for some of my weeks but have yet to do any. So finally, now that it's July, I am having a theme week for my pics of the day. The theme this week is "Summer Favorites"!

Sunday, July 5th

Our first summer favorite of the week is summer clothes...sundresses, sandals, shorts, and swimsuits! Natalie loves skirts and sundresses and here she is in a super cute one...I love the yellow orange color. She's not always interested in dresses but when she wears them she's often twirling and dancing. If's she's not in a dress or skirt and the mood strikes her to dance, she'll ask to change clothes to accomodate the mood..."I need a skirt so I can dance, Mom!"

Monday, July 6th

2nd Summer Favorite...swimming pools and sprinklers! Today, I helped a friend clean and organize her pantry and kitchen cupboards. The kids were so good that when we finally got home about 4 hours later, I told them they could choose something fun to do. Our dinosaur swimming pool and slides was their choice and it was a perfect way to cool off and relax!

Tuesday, July 7th

3rd Summer Favorite...Snow Cones. Last summer we bought a little electric snow cone maker and a few flavored syrups and have enjoyed making homemade snowcones ever sinces. Natalie even asks for them in the winter if she sees the little machine in the cupboard. It was our bedtime snack after a hot day!

Wednesday, July 8th

4th Summer Favorite...playing outside after dinner and later bedtimes. "The sun's still awake Mommy, so why do we have to go to bed?" This is a frequent question at our house during the summer. We often head outside to play when it cools off a bit and it's hard to bring them in for a usual bedtime. Oh well...staying up later and meant a little bit of sleeping in which is also unusual at our house so I'll enjoy every minute I get!

Thursday, July 9th

5th Summer Favorite...family walks on "the path". If we're not playing outside then we're going for walks around the block or up the path...the path is a paved trail up a gully down the street. It's full of weeds and bugs and our kids love racing us up the hill...just watch our for barking dogs in the houses nearby! They love picking these giant dandelion type weeds and making big wishes!

Friday, July 10th

6th Summer Favorite...playing in the water. If it's not the pool it's the neighborhood splash park, squirt guns or even the hose is a favorite toy!

Saturday, July 11th

7th Summer Favorite...fresh fruit and garden veggies. We've had a slow start with our garden due the lots of rain, cool weather and hail. But we have enjoyed fresh lettuce and peas and are looking forward to tomatoes, zuccihni, pumpkins, and carrots. A friend and neighbor let us come over today and pick fresh raspberries. They were delicious! I loved just standing in their garden smelling the raspberries...very fragrant. I was a fun treat.

June 28th through July 4th

2009-07-12T14:27:00.000-07:00

Sunday, June 28th

Sunday's are difficult days for me to remember or think of something to photograph for some reason. So I asked the kids to help me think of something to take a picture of for today...here's what they came up with...cute, huh? Actually they really are cute, sweet kids that I'm so thankful to have in my life!

Monday, June 29th

The kids decided to get out all our Little People stuff and make a Little People city. It was fun to watch them set it up and play...and sometimes fight! When I was a kid we had lots of Little People sets and played with them often. My Mom has even kept them all these years and the grandkids love playing with them at here house or checking them out and bringing them home.

Tuesday, June 30th

This is one of my kids favorite "non-toys" to play with...the laundry baskets. I have a pair of deep laundry baskets that I love...they're actually called "lampers". Anyway, Ben and Natalie both love using them as houses, boats, cars, ect. when they're not full of laundry.

Wednesday, July 1st

We invited Trent and Jamie and their kids to come to the splash park with us today. It was a hot day and they all had fun cooling off in the water and playing on the playground.

Thursday, July 2nd

Ben was in charge of the picture today...this is what he chose. He had been playing with his Star Wars costume earlier in the day and laid it out carefully then took a picture. He loves playing Star Wars alone or with friends and can sometimes get Natalie to play with him too.

Friday, July 3rd

The yard is making a nice comeback after the hailstorm about a month ago. I hopefull that we'll actually get to harvest something is the weather doesn't decide to provide any more catastrophe's!

Saturday, July 4th

We had a great 4th of July holiday today. We went swimming at Uncle Steve's pool in the afternoon and then headed over to Grandpa and Grandma Cindy's for a BBQ, S'mores, and fireworks. We had a fun day and were all tuckered out by the time we got home. The kids are usually in bed by the time fireworks start...this was the first year we actually let them stay up to watch them. We enjoyed seeing them go off all over the valley as we drove home that night. Natalie wasn't so sure about the fireworks at first...she asked me "Mommy, when is it going to get happy?". She wasn't so sure about the loud noises and bright lights but by the end of the night she was on the front row with the other kids.

June 21st through June 27th

2009-07-02T20:52:00.000-07:00

Sunday, June 21st

The day finally arrived...we left for Disneyland at 5:20am! We met up with my parents and Jeff and Amber in St. George and then continued on. We ran into traffic after Las Vegas and it took FOREVER to finally reach our destination. It took 2 extra hours to get there. It was a long 12 hours in the car. When we finally got there, we were all ready to go to bed!

Monday, June 22nd

Here we are at the beginning of the day...waiting for the gates to open. We got there early and were surprised at how light the crowds were at first. We walked onto pretty much all the Fantasyland rides. We had a really fun day taking in several rides and characters. Back at the hotel...Ben and Natalie crashed.

They fell asleep while I was reading them stories. They were so tuckered out it left me wondering if we could survive 3 more days!

Tuesday, June 23rd

We spent some time in ToonTown this afternoon and ran into a few charaters. Minnie was signing autographs on her front porch.

Wednesday, June 24th

Everyone was together today...Trent and Jamie arrived Tuesday night. We got to the park early and were lucky enough to be the "opening family". We got into the gates before everyone else and got to help count down to the opening of the park. We took in the Fantasyland rides together and even got Ben and Natalie on the Matternhorn. Later in the evening, we met up for the parade. Disney thinks of everything and had a game patrol for the kids while we waited. Although it was just simple games like Duck Duck Goose and Simon Says, I'll bet my kids remember it over other bigger things.

Thursday, June 25th

We were fortunate to meet Mickey today at California Adventure. This is the first time in our 4 trips to Disneyland with the kids that we have done autograph books. The kids were so glad to add Mickey to their books.

Friday, June 26th

We headed for the beach on our way out of town...so relaxing after the hustle and bustle of Disneyland. It was a bit cool and overcast and we didn't have much time to spend there but the kids loved the sand and Ben and Bryan built a great sandcastle together.

Saturday, June 27th

We almost forgot to take our traditional family photo in front of the flower Mickey at the front gate. This was us leaving after four fun days at the park. It's always nice to go home but a bit sad to leave and not know when you'll make it back. Ben's already talking about next year's trip. For know we've got loads of laundry to conquer and the lawn needs to be baled. Back to everyday life!

June 14th through June 20th

2009-07-02T20:33:00.000-07:00

Sunday, June 14th

Today's the last Sunday before we leave for Disneyland and since I'm bad a remembering to take pictures on Sunday, I'll post another photo from last year's trip.

Monday, June 15th

We went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House today. Such a beautiful temple. We're so blessed to have 2 new temples so close to us.

Tuesday, June 16th

We're celebrating my Mom's 60th Birthday and Father's Day for my Dad while we're in California. I made these "Exploding Boxes" to give them one night with a tribute inside..."60 Things We Love and Celebrate About You". All my siblings put together a list of 60 things we love about each of our parents...humorous and serious. I found a pattern to make the boxes a while ago but finally got around to using it for something. I inspired to make more!

Wednesday, June 17th

Natalie felt like making her own lunch today...a PB and J sandwich...with butter on top. Ben did it once Mom, so why can't I? Yum, Yum!

Thursday, June 18th

Today is our 11th Anniversary...it's been a wonderful 11 years. This a picture from our wedding day. Our newlywed days seem like another life...days living in our apartment in Poplar Grove, still in school, no kids, driving Bessie and the Geo and working at different jobs and internships. 11 years later we now have 2 kids, a house, a new car, careers... and life is good. I can't wait to see what another 11 years will bring! Love you Bryan.

Friday, June 19th

Last minute T-shirts for the trip...all the cousins have some. They turned out pretty cute. Jamie found some on Etsy for $20+...we made them for about $5 each. A Walmart t-shirt and some Avery Iron On sheets and a few minutes later we had some Mickey and Minnie shirts!

Saturday, June 20th

More rain...it seriously feels like we moved to Seattle or something! Intermitten down pours and cool temperatures has us feeling so ready to head to sunny California tomorrow! Disneyland here we come...please have sun!

June 7th through June 13th

2009-06-10T20:39:00.000-07:00

Sunday, June 7th

Only one more Sunday until we leave for Disneyland! Here's a picture of our trip last summer. Can't wait to make for fun memories.

Monday, June 8th

Natalie got quite a lot of cute birthday gifts. Including some princess dress up items and a princess beauty palor set with hair dryer, curling iron, straightner, etc. She and her brother and have played with all...Ben pretends to seem totally tortured of course!

Tuesday, June 9th

It has been a stormy June so far and today we had a terrible hail storm followed by a downpour. It was quite a sight and in a matter of minutes the streets were flooded, the window wells were filling with water, the yard was shredded, and the kids were screaming. The pictures don't do it justice, but with two screaming kids, it was hard to focus and capture the trauma of it all. Isn't it supposed to be sunny and 80 degrees in June?

Wednesday, June 10th

Here's the aftermath of the hail storm yesterday. I literally cried over the damage and was sure I would have to replant the whole yard. But after some tiding up and fertilizing, I have hope that it's all going to survive. It'll just look a little sad for a few weeks. Thanks to Melissa who came out a helped me clean up!

Thursday, June 11th

Today was Ben's Kindergarten Graduation Program. They had a little fashion show where everyone dressed up in their favorite clothes and Mrs. Craven read a little bit about them while they walked the runway. Then they sang some songs, watched a slide show of pictures from the year and recieved a "diploma" from Mrs. Craven. Afterward they had cookies and punch and got a little graduation cap filled with a ding dong. It was bittersweet...we've loved Mrs. Craven and Kindergarten and are excited to go on to 1st Grade but I think we're all a little nervous about how it will be.

Friday, June 12th

Natalie got this cute princess hair styling kit for her birthday and has loved trying it out on everyone. This is her friend Rachel getting her hair straightened ever so carefully by Natalie!

Saturday, June 13th

Ben and Natalie started a game with Daddy at lunch...teasing and taunting him just asking for tickles...guess who won?

May 31st through June 6th

2009-06-06T20:21:00.000-07:00

Sunday, May 31st

This picture tells of a quirky Peterson favorite...they love taking day old cake and pouring milk over it and enjoying a re-moistened dessert. It's actually not too bad - I have tried it before. It reminds of when my Dad used to have toast and milk...buttered toast or bread soaked in milk...Yuck! The cake doesn't get soggy as fast as bread so it's a bit more edible but still a bit quirky if you ask me!

Monday, June 1st

We're anticipating our trip to Disneyland in a few weeks so we checked out some Disney music from the library. My kids love marching around the living room to the Mickey Mouse March song. "Who's the leader of the band?" When we took Ben to Disneyland the first time (he was 2 years old), Aunt Sissa used to march him around Nana's house with Mickey ears on and sing this song. She and my parents went with us on that trip and she prepared him well befor we left!

Tuesday, June 2nd

We're winding down baseball. Here's a couple of pictures of fun games. He's learned a few new things and has had fun being on a team with kids in the neighborhood.

Wednesday, June 3rd

Today was Zoo Day at school for Ben. His class took a fieldtrip up to Hogle Zoo. Bryan was able to get the day off and bring Natalie up to join us. We enjoyed the Bird show for the first time this year and rode the new Carousel.

Thursday, June 4th

Today was Natalie's 3rd birthday! I can't believe has time has flown by. We're having a party on Saturday. To celebrate today, we went to lunch at Sweet Tomatoes...or Sweet Potatoes as she would say. At 3 years old she is quite the handful and has become a bit of a drama queen...okay a BIG drama queen but we love having this sweet little girl in our family! Happy Birthday Natalie!It was Ben's last baseball game today too! They had a little party afterward with cupcakes and snowcones. It was a good treat at the end of a busy day!

Friday, June 5th

We have spent any free time this week working on the swing set and are finally finished. Hurray! We just need to stake it in the grass and then we have a new park right in the backyard! The kids love it!

Saturday, June 6th

We celebrated Natalie's 3rd birthday today...we had a tea party and invited our families over to enjoy some treats and open presents. We had a fun party and Natalie got some really cute gifts. She got lots of cute clothes and PJ's, a baby that crawls, Princess dress ups, beads to make jewelry, a cute apron, flowers for her hair, Play dough, and cards from great grandparents. She loved every minute of it!

May 24 through May 30

2009-06-01T20:40:00.000-07:00

Sunday, May 24

We planted these fruit trees last Spring and I took a picture of the kids in front of them ... the beginning of an annual tradition to measure the growth of both kids and trees. Here's last years and this years photos for comparison.

Monday, May 25

It was Memorial Day today. Bryan still working so I took the kids miniature golfing at Mulligans and then they ran through the sprinklers before we went to Great Grandma's for a BBQ. We made some homemade Oreos to share at the BBQ. It's GG's birthday tomorrow, so we had cake and ice cream for her too. We love GG!

Tuesday, May 26

Bryan got called out on a case Friday morning and we haven't seen much of him since then...this is becoming a familiar sight...an empty plate. He's called during the day to report he'll be home for dinner but has yet to make home before 10pm. Ben keeps asking "when is Daddy ever coming home?"

Wednesday, May 27

Ben got to try out school lunch today to see what it will be like when he goes to first grade later this year. I went to help out and got to snap a few pictures of him enjoying chicken nuggets and tater tots. When I went through the line with him, and I saw them serving up tater tots I had to explain to Ben what they were as he has never had them. I actually couldn't believe he'd never had them...I used to eat them a lot when I was little. He loved the lunch and was of course one of the last to finish. He is usually last to finish at home too!

Thursday, May 28

When we got home from Ben's baseball game tonight, he kindly shared his after game snack with her. They put two straws in his bottle of Gatorade and sucked it dry. So fun to watch them share!

Friday, May 29

Here's a picture of one corner of our growing garden...the lettuce, spinach and peas are doing great. The carrots are also making some progress. Our giant sunflowers are sprouting too! I planted 12 different tomato plants...6 or 7 different varieties. I hope I don't regret it later!

Saturday, May 30

We bought the kids a swing set a couple of week ago and finally got some time to work on it this weekend. Here's the progress so far. We hope to get it done soon...the instructions said it takes 8 to 12 hours to put together! Wish us luck, it feels like a never ending project! The kids can't wait to try it out when it's done.

May 17 through May 23

2009-05-20T20:55:00.000-07:00

Sunday, May 17

We enjoyed a Sunday dinner at Heidi and Aaron's house this afternoon. The weather was nice enough to eat outside. The kids had a great time hunting around looking for bugs to catch with Kaleb's nifty bug catcher. It was fun to watch them catch and examine a jar full of roly polies and a baby grasshopper. A fun simple toy that entertained the bunch for quite awhile!

Monday, May 18

The thermastat reached just over 90 degrees today. The kids enjoyed the sun by getting out swimming suits and the sprinkler toys for the first time this season. Ben got quite brave and had a great time getting wet. Natalie on the other hand wasn't so sure about getting wet and stayed clear of the spray.

Tuesday, May 19

We're looking forward to our Disneyland trip in a few weeks with the Handy's...we've been working on some homemade autograph books to take to the park. Jennie borrowed a Disney cartridge from a friend and we ended up with some cute books.

Wednesday, May 20

This is what happens when you combine a terrible nights sleep, no more naps, a morning at the park, an afternoon with friends, and several temper tantrums...crash at 4:30pm!

Thursday, May 21

We had corn on the cob for dinner tonight... the first time this season. It was alright and the kids loved eating it and pretending they were Mickey and Donald eating corn on the cob...a scene from one of our favorite old Mickey cartoons.

Friday, May 22

We bought a couple of portable DVD players for Christmas for our car. Sometimes they end up in the house when 2 kids can't agree on what to watch on TV. We also recently purchased headphones for these DVD players as someone likes to watch them with the volume super loud! Natalie and Ben were so cute laying on their stomachs watching a show together, but when I got out the camera, Natalie refused to pose. Oh well...Ben did a good job giving me a cheesy grin.

Saturday, May 23

Here's another image of Natalie biting the dust in the afternoon...we'd been to the mall and ran some other errands and she'd been up since 5:30am! Following this peaceful image, however, we ended up with a different scene as we dealt with the "Nap Hangover".

May 10 through May 16

2009-05-11T20:51:00.000-07:00

Sunday, May 10

Mother's Day today! I had a wonderful day with my family. Bryan and the kids surprised me with a new Kitchenaid mixer...a kitchen gadget I've desired for a long time but the price tag kept me from getting one. However, my generous husband was kind enough to surprise me with one! I love it and even used it this morning to make cookies! We enjoyed church, visited Grandma Peterson's grave, and then had dinner at Great Grandma White's house. It was a beautiful day!

Monday, May 11

We've been trying to help my sister, Jennie's, friend raise some Monarch caterpillars into butterflies for a wedding. Here's a current photo of one of the little bugs who has gone from a teeny baby caterpillar to a big juicy caterpillar who eats constantly. We've had several die and we hope to have success with at least one. We'll see how it goes.

Tuesday, May 12

Haircuts for Mommy, Ben and Natalie today. This was Ben and Natalie's first experience with real haircuts from my stylist Marie. She did a great job as always and the kids ended up with some cute do's...Mommy did too! Natalie got a bit cut off and got a cute little bob. Ben said..."She looks like someone else!" We're so used to her curly locks that it was a bit of a change to see her with straigth hair. So cute though!

Wednesday, May 13

The past week or so, Ben's Kindergarten class as been studying animals at school and had to do an animal report on an animal of their choice. Ben chose monkeys and we made a cute poster and puppet to go with his report. He did a great job! His favorite tidbit about monkeys was that a group of monkeys is called a troop.

Thursday, May 14

One of our favorite things to do when the weather is warm is go on walks around the block or up the ravine path after dinner. Lately the dandelions have been out in full force and the kids love picking the white fluffy one and making a wish as they blow the seeds off. So much fun but not helpful in stopping the spread of these little annoying weeds. Bryan's constantly asking them to leave them alone but I can't resist letting them have at it. I love watching them have fun picking and making wishes. Here's hoping some of them come true!

Friday, May 15

The iris's in our garden are starting to bloom. The pretty purple color really brightens up the yard.

Saturday, May 16

Another lawn mowing picture as the kids help Daddy in the yard. We bought these toy lawn mower and trimmer a few years ago when Ben was about 2 years old. We sure have got our money's worth!

May 3 through May 9

2009-05-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

Sunday, May 3

Ben decided to read the paper this morning..."like an old man!" He got the idea from one school. His class is working on little plays for a Mother's Day program and in one of the skits, one of the boys is an old man reading the newspaper. So this morning, while he ate breakfast, he poured of the front page and asked me a thousand questions!

Monday, May 4

As I've posted a few weeks ago, Ben has been intersted in exercising with me in the mornings. I bought me a pair of exercise shorts and he wore them this morning. It actually motivates me a little to have a "partner" to work out with! Look at those muscles!

Tuesday, May 5

Rookie Baseball keeps us busy twice a week...here's Ben taking a swing! He loves playing ball and looks forward to the games each week.

Wednesday, May 6

It has been Teacher Apprecation Week this week and I've been busy sewing every night to finish this little quilt for Mrs. Craven. I embroidered the handprint and signature of each student on it. It turned out to be a bit more of a project than I planned. I finally finished it tonight at 10:30pm. I'm so glad it's finally finished...we're giving it to her in the morning!

Thursday, May 7

Ben's class performed their Mother's Day program at school this morning. It turned out so cute. They share a few poems and songs, performed their plays, gave us Mother's Day cards, and served us fruit pizza for dessert. I loved it! The boys recited a cute poem called "A Mother Knows." They listed lots of great things mothers know but then at the end, the last line read: "What I want to know is how a Mother so wise can be so dumb by kissing my in front of all the guys!" It was so cute! In his Mother's Day card, he wrote, "I love my mom because she makes me lunch and volunteers in my class." What a lucky mom I am!

Friday, May 8

Saturday, May 9

It was a warm afternoon and the kids helped me plant some flowers in our yard. It's taking shape slowly and we hope to get the vegetables in next week. We just ran out of time today! Saturday's seem to race by with all the projects we have to get done!

April 26 through May 2

2009-05-11T20:12:00.001-07:00

Sunday, April 26

Here's an oldie but a goodie...this is Ben playing with a dollhouse that was mine when I was a child. Each of my siblings had one that was given to us by our Grandma Anne. She spent lots of time collecting toy treasures. This was just one of many. She loved finding a good sale on antique things. My parents recently gave us one to take home. They had been sitting in their storage room for years. My kids have loved getting it out and setting up house. It's fun to remember all the times I used to play with it with my siblings. We'd set up a little neighborhood and make up names and such for our little families. Good times!

Monday, April 27

After all the rain we've had the past week or so the grass had become a bit of a jungle. Bryan spent a couple or hours mowing and edging, trying to tame it. Natalie was a bit of a helper. I love this picture because I know somewhere I have a couple of Ben at this age doing the same thing!

Tuesday, April 28

Some friends invited us for a picnic at the park after school today. It was a little cool in the shade but we all had fun playing and visiting. Park play as been a favorite of the kids this year. There are several around and we have tried them all out at least once already this year.

Wednesday, April 29

My sister Jennie's neighbor is helping her friend try to raise some monarch caterpillars into butterflies for a wedding in a few weeks. We are lucky enough to have a few as guests in our house. We started out with 2 babies and larger caterpillar, but the larger one has already bit the dust. It'll be a fun science experiment for us. Hopefully we'll have a picture of a butterfly in a few weeks!

Thursday, April 30

It was a rainy day today...Natalie spent some time watching it out the back door. I love Spring rain. It makes everything seem fresh and green and clean!

Friday, May 1

Teacher Appreciation Week for the teachers at Ben's school starts next week. As the room mom I'm in charge of a few projects. We kicked off the week by decorating her door. Our theme was "Mrs. Craven, You Take the Cake!" and I made a 2 dimensional cake with the students name surrounding it on stars. It turned out pretty cute, I think!

Saturday, May 2

Here's an update on the caterpillars...some are growing pretty fast. This project has inspired many questions from Ben. He's constantly quizzing me about the process of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. I need to get a book or something...he's relentless! I hope we get a butterfly soon!

April 19 through April 25

2009-04-22T21:05:00.000-07:00

Sunday, April 19

Finally a nice warm Spring day! Everyone even pulled out shorts and sandals. We BBQ'd for dinner and the kids loved being outside. Bryan pulled out his flip-flops and Ben decided he would follow suit. I bought him a pair last summer that never got worn because he wasn't so sure about the thing between his toes or the lack of socks. But he has turned over a new leaf and enjoyed bare feet and flip flops with the best of them!

Monday, April 20

Another day with temps in the 70's and we had a picnic lunch at the park after school. We played for an hour or so and then headed home. A bit later I noticed we all ended up getting sunburned. I didn't think about sunscreen...being out in the sun is still new...I didn't even think about such things. Anyway, we all turned a nice shade of red by late afternoon and took a picture after baths of Ben and Natalie's red noses and arms.

Tuesday, April 21

Today Ben had his first rookie baseball game. He's on the Mud Cats team with some friends in the ward. It's machine/coach pitch and the machine is a bit intimidating. His first time up to bat, he ended using the T but his second time up to bat he was able to get a good hit from the coach pitch. He was excited and had a good time. His shirt number is 11...Bryan informed him that he had #11 on his football jersey when he played in high school. A fun concidence! 13 more games to go!

Wednesday, April 22

All this warm weather inspired a request for snowcones...Natalie's been asking for them all winter but today I actually was excited to get it out. After playing in the sun and wearing sunburns that last few days, a snow cone was just the thing!

Thursday, April 23

Bryan surprised me with some flowers when he came home from work today...so sweet! I love tulips! It was a little bit of beautiful in my hum drum everyday life as a stay at home mom. It seems like lately I've been somewhat emotionally blah...didn't think anyone noticed but when he brought home the flowers I started thinking about how if "momma ain't happy...ain't nobody happy!" I think my mood was wearing on everyone and I didn't realize it. I vow to get my ducks in a row and be more cheerful and grateful! Thanks Sweetheart!

Friday, April 24

Here's another "evidence of someone" photo. Ben loves Oreo's and pick out a bag at the grocery store today for a snack. It was a new flavor...strawberry milkshake. The frosting in the middle is pink and strawberry flavored. Natalie is hot and cold and Oreos but decided she wanted some because of the pink frosting of course. However the photo reveals how she usually eats Oreos...just the frosting and leaves the cookie. I returned to the kitchen after she asked for them to find these little piles of Oreo cookies, minus the cute pink frosting.

Saturday, April 25

Can food be cute? Bryan and I have had this discussion a time or two and today at lunch it was Natalie and Ben's turn. I pulled out some Teddy Graham snack mix that has some miniature teddy grahams, mini graham bees, yogurt raisins, and tiny pretzel twists. Natalie picked up a pretzel and said - "Oh, that pretzel's kind of cute!" Ben replied with a sarcastic - "Food cannot be cute!" Like father like son! It was funny to hear them banter just like Bryan and I. Litte pigs really do have big ears I guess!

April 12 through April 18

2009-04-14T20:25:00.000-07:00

Sunday, April 12

Easter Sunday! The Easter bunny visited this morning and brought some fun treats and toys. The kids posed for some pictures in their new church outfits outside...it turned out to be a pretty nice day. After church, we visited Great Grandma White and then headed to the Lee's for the annual Easter Egg Hunt. Grandma Lee hides over 500 eggs through the yard and house. Everyone...adults and kids...loves racing to find as many eggs as possible. It was a fun day for all!

Monday, April 13

It was a beautiful Spring day today and we took advantage of the sun by working in the yard, cleaning out the garage, playing at the park, and BBQing pork chops for dinner. It was so great...hard to imagine the snow forcasted for Wednesday!

Tuesday, April 14

It's Ben's last week off track and we're trying to make the most of the week. Due to the rain today, we headed off to an indoor activity. We hit the Walter Wick exhibit at the BYU museum of art and then the Monte L. Bean Museum. I snagged a couple of pictures of the kids at the art museum, only to be politely told by a sweet security guard that photography was not allowed...oops!

Wednesday, April 15

Another indoor activity today due to SNOW...bowling. We went to All Star Lanes in West Jordan and had a fun time bowling just the three of us. Ben won with a whopping score of 110! We even got to play amongst the neon lights and fog machines. They danced, bowled and had a fun day out. The snow had melted by the time we got home and we can't wait for the warm weather promised for next week.

Thursday, April 16

Ben decided to make his own lunch today. He informed me that he had a "new recipe" he was going to try: "a hot dog on bread...like a sandwich. With ketchup and mustard...and something else...hmm....I know, butter!" So here he is eating his "new recipe"! Yum! This whole thing makes me smile though because I can remember making a sandwich as a child once with a piece of licorice and a chocolate chip cookie sandwiched between 2 slices of white bread! Can't imagine what I was thinking there. I also remember being told stories of my aunts making mustard sandwiches and sugar sandwiches. Guess it runs in the family!

Friday, April 17

Little Miss Priss decided she needed her fingernails painted to match her toenails...it started out cute but quickly became a bit much as she repeatedly brought me the nail polish to touch up the mess she was making by scraping it off with her teeth! "Fix it, Mom!"

Saturday, April 18

This afternoon we went to Nana and Grandpa's to celebrate William's first birthday. I made him a cute sock dog to go with a couple of shirts for a gift. The dog turned out pretty good and I'm determined to keep making more...I love them!

April 5 through April 11

2009-04-13T15:57:00.000-07:00

Sunday, April 5

After General Conference today, we headed off to Grandpa and Nana's house for an Easter dinner and egg hunt. Nana treated them to an Easter treasure hunt and hid clues around the house that eventually lead to treats and prizes. The kids loved it all, of course. After the hunt, they played a few games and decorated Easter sugar cookies. Lots of fun...thanks Nana and Grandpa!

Monday, April 6

Around Christmas time, I set out to make these fun sock animals but with everything else going on that month I never got around to it. Ben's been asking about them for months and we finally found time the get them finished. Max (dog) and Bing-Bong (monkey) have been dragged around the house since their last stitch was in place. I enjoyed making them and have several pairs of socks waiting for their turn...we'll see what comes out of them soon!

Tuesday, April 7

Ben and Natalie both love looking at their scrapbooks that I have made for them. I think it's good for their self-esteem and I love watching them recount the memories from the pages of each others books. I was up to date last spring but have since gotten behind and need to make time to catch them up. So many projects...so little time.

Wednesday, April 8

You know it's Spring when the Kynaston's (our neighbors across the street) put up their Easter chick/bunny. Natalie spotted it this morning and we had to venture across the street later to check it out. We have many Easter pictures in front of this big guy. We've enjoyed all the inflatable holiday decorations that pop up across the street.

Thursday, April 9

We got a mysterious package from the UPS man today...it was addressed just with Bryan's first name and had a return address from some "Sweet Edibles" shop. Bryan and I eyed each other suspiciously and opened it to reveal a giant sugar cookie with a picture of a new Saturn painted on with frosting. It was from the car dealership we bought our new car from last week...just a thank you for buying a new car. It was actually pretty good tasting and the kids enjoyed a eating a big hunk of it.

Friday, April 10

Natalie has recently fallen in love with this cute nightgown. It's a borrowed hand-me-down from her cousin Isabel. We've been lucky enough to exchange hand-me-downs with Jennie...Haydn get's Ben's clothes and Natalie gets Isabel's. We actually got this nightgown last fall but Natalie wasn't interested in wearing it. But recently she decided she wanted to wear this "bedtime dress" and loves it! It was made by Isabel's Grandma Emery. She looks like such a big girl wearing it... I love it too!

Saturday, April 11

We spent some time doing one of my favorite Spring/Easter traditions this afternoon...dyeing Easter eggs. We had a good time dyeing a dozen eggs some pretty spring colors and enjoyed egg salad sandwiches for dinner.

March 29 through April 4

2009-03-30T12:41:00.000-07:00

Sunday, March 29th

We celebrated Bryan's 33rd birthday today...his birthday is actually tomorrow but he's leaving for Las Vegas for a business trip. We had the grandparents over for dinner and birthday cake and he opened a few gifts. We're really racking up the years..."33 sure is old" says Ben!

Monday, March 30th

Today was officially Bryan's birthday but since he had to leave to Las Vegas for a business trip, the kids and I celebrated without him by going to a movie. We saw "Monster's vs. Aliens" in 3D. Ben loved it...Natalie wasn't so sure about it and kept getting startled. She asked several times to go home but about 2/3rds through it she started to enjoy it. I loved them wearing the nifty 3D glasses!

Tuesday, March 31st

We headed out to the mall today and ran into the Easter bunny. Natalie wanted nothing to do with him, but Ben enjoyed giving him high fives and "bones". They got these fun bunny ears and posed at home for me. After we walked away from the Easter Bunny, Ben, in his six year old insight, says to me..."that was just some guy in a costume, huh." What can a mother say. It obviously was not a real rabbit...so "yep, it was just a costume...something fun for Easter!" It didn't seem to phase in belief in the Easter bunny or other such characters though.

Wednesday, April 1st

Since Ben has been off track, I've been working out a little later in the morning sinch we don't have to rush off to school. Usually the kids just play around me but this week Ben has taken an interest in exercising with me. He loves trying to keep up and build some strong muscles. We even got him some new "exercise shoes!"

Thursday, April 2nd

Natalie is all girl! She loves being a little mother to her babies. Lately I've often found her playing in her room, emptying the closet of all things baby, and setting up a little nursery. So cute...too bad she's not so excited about cleaning up!

Friday, April 3rd

We bought a new family truckster today...a 2009 Saturn Outlook. It's a bit bigger than our last car and it's fun to have something brand spankin' new. The kids are excited about it too...Natalie mourned the loss of our "gray one" but quickly got over it when we picked up the new one. The kids were troopers and behaved well through the tedious process of buying a car.

Saturday, April 4th

My little girly-girl has a new pasttime...she enjoys putting makeup on with me in the morning. She used to just go for the lipgloss but now she's into everything and even tried out the mascara today! She missed the mark though and ended spearing into her eyebrows. What am I in for when she gets older?

March 22 through 28

2009-03-22T15:05:00.000-07:00

Sunday, March 22nd

Bryson and Braydon (our nephews) came to play this afternoon while their parents and sisters went to the Draper Temple dedication. Ben and Natalie enjoyed their company this afternoon after anticipating them coming all morning. After church they both asked multiple times when they were coming.

Monday, March 23rd

We had some new insulation put in our attic and basement ceiling today...as a result the front door was open quite a bit on this cool day and we all need to keep our feet warm...here is Natalie and her slipper choice.

Tuesday, March 24th

Ben had a fun play date today with a friend from school. He's had his up's and down's with Kindergarten but making new friends has definitely been an up! Harrison is a fun friend to play with. They both love to do the video game thing and had fun trading off with Harrison's DS and Ben's Leapster. Ben has been introduced to the DS by several friends and can't wait to get his own..."when will it be Christmas, Mom?"

Wednesday, March 25th

This is the photo of the day...quite a contrast to last week's pictures of us playing outside and enjoying warm, sunny days. This week, winter has decided to give a final blast or two, unfortunately. We want the sun back!

Thursday, March 26th

Another wintery picture for you...the second photo is of the storm outside and the first is of Natalie watching Frosty the Snowman...it seemed appropriate on such a day.

Friday, March 27th

Little artists at work...Can I say once again how wonderful it is to see them playing nicely together? They don't always play well together put it is so sweet when they do so I have to catch it camera when they do!

Saturday, March 38th

We took the kids to Nana and Grandpa's as usual on Saturday so we could clean the building. However, the kids got to interact with an some new friends. My parents often have a pair of ducks that hang out on their street in the Spring and they have recently returned. Ben and Natalie fed them some bread and then chased them away...I'm sure they be back for more later, though! My mom said she read somewhere that ducks mate for life and she's sure it's the same ducks year after year.

March 15 through 21

2009-03-20T14:24:00.000-07:00

Sunday, March 15th

We were ready a little early for church today so I had time to take a quick picture of the kids in their cute church outfits. These are Christmas clothes and hopefully the weather will permit more Springish outfits soon!

Monday, March 16th

What a great big brother...Ben decided to help feed Natalie dinner. He can be really sweet with her when he chooses. Hopefully such pictures will encourage more of such behavior!

Tuesday, March 17th

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We had a fun green dinner to celebrate the day: lime marinaded chicken, a green salad, green grapes and pears, grilled green veggies (peppers, zucchini, and potatoes), green Kool-aid, Thin Mint cookies, and Hersey's gold nuggets in little pots.

Wednesday, March 18th

What a wonderful week of warm weather we're enjoying. We had lunch at the park today and it was a popular place to be as everyone else had the same idea! We also enjoyed playing in our yard with bubbles and scooters.

Thursday, March 19th

We spent the warm afternoon planting some of our garden seeds. The kids were a big help and seemed just as excited about the project as I am! They kept asking how long it would take for them to grow and when we can put them in the garden.

Friday, March 20th

The first day of Spring! Our tulips are making great progress and the trees are looking closer to bursting into blooms! I spent some time yesterday cleaning up the yard and can't wait for more signs of Spring!

Saturday, March 21st

Another one bites the dust...Yellow died yesterday and was flushed to little fishy heaven to be with Goldie. We replaced him with Spot...and are hoping for better luck. Yellow's death may have been my fault. Last week when I was cleaning the fishbowl, Yellow jumped out of the net when I was transferring him out of the dirty bowl. I scooped him up as quick as a could and into the cup but I'm not sure if he's been the same since. Pets are just not my thing I guess.

March 8 through 14

2009-03-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

Sunday, March 8th

No picture... but I played the piano in sacrament meeting at church today. I played an arrangement of "Love at Home". I'm not the greatest of performers but it went pretty well considering my hands were shaking so. Some of my piano students from the ward commented on my performance...I think they were a bit amazed that I actually can play the piano. One parent said I was like the ward celebrity and there kids were commenting to others around them "She's my piano teacher!" Anyway it helped me get some practicing in.

Monday, March 9th

It was "Dad's and Donuts" at school day and Bryan was able to spend a fun hour with Ben at school. I forget to send the camera so this is them after they got home...both were all smiles and had a good time playing games and eating donuts!

Tuesday, March 10th

It snowed last night and I made an attempt at getting a picture of our house while it was snowing...it didn't turn out the best but it was a pretty night. I enjoy snow more in December but Spring snow has a few pluses...it melts quickly and it does pretty the world up a bit, covering the brown and blaugh that winter has left behind. Only 10 more days till Spring!

Wednesday, March 11th

Another "Evidence of Someone" photo. Can you tell who left this behind? She stuck her little finger in the picture as I was taking it...proud of her work, I guess. She was going potty and I left her for a second. When I returned I found Ben informing me that she had unrolled most of the toilet paper roll and he was trying to be helpful so he rolled it back up...ever so neatly don't you think? Needless to say it ended up in the garbage. What good times!

Thursday, March 12th

Natalie has recently started giving up naps. She'll still take them if I make her but then she's up until 9 or 10pm at night. So were at a crossroads as to what to do because while I hate giving up naps I don't want her staying up after her BIG brother goes to bed! But today she had a nap and here she is having a late night snack with Mom. Truth be told, however, it is kind of fun having quiet one-on-one time with my little girl!

Friday, March 13th

One of our favorites ways to spend an afternoon playing is to build a fort with the couch cushions downstairs. The neighbors love it...I wonder if this is allowed at their houses? If not a fort, then they try to stack the cushions and climb the mountain without it tipping over. Lots of fun!

Saturday, March 14th

Ben and Natalie can be good playmates...when they want to that is. Here they are playing with Natalie's doll tub. Ben graciously agreed to sit in while she pretended to give him a bath!

March 1 through 7

2009-03-02T13:04:00.000-08:00

Sunday, March 1st

I got some cute new Sunday shoes this weekend...here's Natalie modeling some for me. I usually drop off my shoes on the way in the door from church and both Ben and Natalie love to snatch them up and tromp around the house making as much noise as possible. Natalie ended up being the picture model today but Ben was actually the first to test out the new shoes after church! I'm sure he'll love knowing this later in life!

Monday, March 2nd

Today was one the extra pleasant days when everyone seemed happy and nothing went wrong...the kids played well together and we happy all day. Here they are singing and smiling at the dinner table...a little of heaven on earth.

Tuesday, March 3rd

Natalie has been asking everyday for a game of hide and seek...she makes it easy on me though as she usually hides in the same spot I did before her and then she'll call out as I'm looking, "I'm in here, Mom!". So cute and fun! Here she is hiding in one of our favorite spots...the bathtub.

Wednesday, March 4th

Here's another "evidence of someone" picture. Ben is usually a neat and tidy little boy and picks his things up pretty well...however, this is a good example of evidence that Ben has been playing here...little Star Wars or Indiana Jones characters left out. These poor guys fell into a "Mousetrap!".

Thursday, March 5th

Friday, March 6th

Ben and Natalie decided they wanted to make their own lunch today... PB and J was the decided menu and here they are in action. Ben's turned out pretty well and he only needed a little help with the jam. Natalie however didn't get very far with hers because she kept getting peanut butter on her hands and was more interested in licking it off than making the sandwich.

Saturday, March 7th

Today was a little opposite of our Monday picture...the kids were having a hard time playing and talking nicely so I put them to work helping me with Saturday chores. They settled down after helping with a few jobs and were much more motivated to play and get along!

February 22 through 28

2009-02-24T20:20:00.000-08:00

Sunday, February 22

"I wanna play a game, Mom." This is one of Natalie's new favorite pasttimes. She loves to get out Guess Who, Cookin' Cookies, Mousetrap, or several others and try and play a game. She's a crack-up with Guess Who and will tell you write off the bat who she's got. We have a Disney version and she loves to find the princesses. "Look, I got Snow White!...ask me question, Mom."

Monday, February 23

Bryan gave me a rod and picture frames from Rod Works for Christmas and we finally got around to hanging them up. They look great!

Tuesday, February 24

They're here! We got our garden seed order in the mail today! I'm so excited! Although they did arrive with a couple of disappointments...they were out of stock of yellow carrots, Japenese cucumbers, hot peppers, and black cherry tomatoes. Oh well, next year I'll remember to order a little earlier. But as you can see we have quite a collection to keep our garden busy this summer: zucchini, butternut squash, watermelon, 2 kinds lettuce, spinach, peas, 3 kinds of tomatoes, cucumbers, crook neck squash, lemon squash, orange and green peppers, acorn squash, eggplant, 3 kinds of carrots, 2 kinds of pumpkins and some holly hock flowers. Next up is getting the peas, spinach and lettuce started! Wish me luck!

Wednesday, February 25

It was a nice, warm sunny day today. So after lunch we went to Butterfield Park with Jennie, Isabel and Haydn. They enjoyed playing together for about 2 hours! Ben was excited about being brave enough to go down the fire pole by himself and Natalie worried about the bugs who came out to enjoy the sun with us. It was a fun afternoon. It's so nice to have a sister down the street who's a great friend and has kids that are the same age as mine!

Thursday, February 26

As I have posted before, I trade babysitting with my sister Jennie so we can volunteer at the school. Today Hadyn came over and got busy playing with Natalie in her room. I was cleaning the bathrooms and went to check on them and found they had emptied the toy organizer in her closet and dumped all the contents behind the bed and then threw the bins on top...and then added their socks to the pile to finish it off. When I found them, I couldn't help but smile and take a picture! It reminded me of a similar incident that Ben and Isabel had a couple of years ago. We were playing a Jennie's house and we were taking care of Natalie and Haydn (they were babies at the time) and went to check on Ben and Isabel to find that they had taken all of the toys from her closet and dumped them behind her bed. They were about to start on the bookshelf when we found them! Good times!

Friday, February 27

We've been working on a project for Ben's room...a solar system to hang from the ceilng! Here's the almost finished project. He's so excited. He has been declaring for quite some time that he wants to be an astronaut when he grows up and have his own rocket ship that he can explore the planets with. We also got some glow in the dark stars to put up and he wants to get a model rocket to put together and display. We'll post some finalized pictures when we get it done.

Saturday, February 28

Sad day today...we lost our dear pet goldfish, Goldie, today. Ben was most upset. Bryan discovered it and we debated whether we should replace it without him knowing or not. I decided we needed to tell him. When we got the fish 2 months ago, I warned him that goldfish don't live as long as people so he'd understand that it was a short relationship, but none the less he was very upset and cried a lot. I tried to get a picture of his crocodile tears and quivering chin but he wasn't excited about that. However we did get some happy pictures of our trip to the pet store that day. We came home with 2 guppies...Ben's is "Gubby-Gubby" and Natalie's is "Lellow". They are a bit hyper for fish and have been chasing Red around the fishbowl. Hopefully they calm down!

February 15 through 21

2009-02-19T14:43:00.000-08:00

Sunday, February 15

We gave Natalie a Snow White costume for Valentine's Day...she loves it! She dresses up in it frequently and I just love watching her dance around in her crown and shoes. I love, love the shoes with her cute, chumby feet inside!

Monday, February 16

No school on account of President's Day, so we decided to try out our new snow tubes in the backyard. I wasn't sure how well it would work but it turns out that the slope in our backyard is just the right size for my timid two. We spent several hours out there sliding down and trudging back up. We eventually wore out the little snow in our yard so we headed across the street to our neighbors and tried out a little bit bigger slope. What a fun day!

Tuesday, February 17

I'm getting that Spring Fever kind of feeling...restlessness and a desire to clean and plant. I ordered this great seed catalog and found some fun things for our garden. I'm hoping my order comes soon so we can get a jump start on our garden.

Wednesday, February 18

Our little princess is working on potty training! I've decided I can no longer pretend she is a baby so we've been getting rid of binkies and diapers! She's doing really well...let's hope it continues!

Thursday, February 19

Today was Ben's 100th day of school and they had a fun celebration at school. Mrs. Craven gave them all a silly 100 mask at the end of the day to take home. As it turns out, this 100th day did not end up being our best day, as you can tell in the photo. Even Kindergartners have lumps and bumps in life. On to day 101!

Friday, February 20

"Mom, can I call a friend?" I get asked this question on a daily basis. Ben loves being able to have a friend come over and play. Mom and little sister don't always top the list of favorite playmates any more. He's lucky to have some great friends on our street and it's a fun afternoon when someone can come over to play Star Wars or Indiana Jones or whatever adventures they can imagine!

Saturday, February 21

The weather has been great the past few days and we've taken advantage of the sun and played outside a bit. Natalie was playing the dirt and we noticed our tulips are starting to pop up...I'm so excited! This is the first time I've planted tulips and I'm anxious to see what they do. Spring is getting closer!

February 8 through 14

2009-02-09T19:42:00.000-08:00

Sunday, February 8

Sunday morning funnies...the kids love tickling Daddy. He indulges them with great big belly laughs that are really convincing...but if you really want to get him, go for the feet!

Monday, February 9

Evidence of someone...I can always tell where Natalie has been playing. She loves to collect miscellaneous stuff in bags and purses and then dump it out or line it up in random places. Todays activities involved dumping the contents of three purses in the oven of her little kitchen. She said she was putting it all in the dishwasher to get it clean. She is a different breed than her brother. He's much tider and better at putting things away. She gets upset to find her piles have been put away....but on the bright side, she loves to clean toilets!

Tuesday, February 10

With Valentine's coming up, I thought I'd write a few love notes:

Bryan,
3 things I love about you:
1. Your happiness and desire to jostle a smile or laugh out of others with silliness, jokes, and endless teasing.
2. Your love for me and your flattering compliments even when I feel like a frumpy house wife at the end of the day.
3. Your kindness and sensitivity.

Wednesday, February 11

Benjamin,
3 things I love about you:
1. Your curiosity and inquisitiveness about everything in life...despite the hundreds of questions each day.
2. Your kindness and love...I love your snuggles and cuddles.
3. Your endless energy and love of life.

Thursday, February 12

Natalie,
3 things I love about you:
1. Your contagious giggles and smiles and silly faces and sayings that make me laugh.
2. Your sweet, little girly ways...playing with babies and kitchens, carrying purses, wearing lipgloss and nail polish, loving princesses.
3. Your kisses and snuggles.

Friday, February 13

It was Ben's valentine's party at school today. We had a fun time playing Bingo, decorating cookies and doing a few Valentine's centers. Bryan and Natalie were some of my great helpers!

Saturday, February 14

Love Day! We celebrated by giving the kids a small gift and having a fun Valentine's dinner together. We gave Natalie a Snow White dress up outfit and Ben a Star Wars ship. When Ben opened his, in his childhood honesty responded by saying: "well, it's not what I wanted but it's what you got, so..." I laughed and laughed at that. Luckily he ended up loving the toy despite having a different idea about what it was. I think he thought it was going to be like Christmas. Natalie, on the other hand, opened her and immediately dressed up in it and responded with: "I'm going dancing!" What fun memories!

February 1 through 7

2009-02-02T20:47:00.001-08:00

Sunday, February 1

Superbowl Sunday today. After church and dinner, we went to Baker's for an extended FHE and Superbowl party. After baths, Ben read Natalie a few stories. Their favorite this week is a book from the library called "Flight of the Dodo"...silly book about flightless birds taking to the sky. They love it because they get to say "poop"! Go figure...

Monday, February 2

We have an annual membership to Hogle Zoo so we took advantage of a sunny day and headed up to the zoo. The weather was so nice and the animals were surprisingly active. They monkeys were swinging about, the cougars were fighting, the leopard was pacing, and the elephants were eating snow! We took our traditional photo by the "How Do You Measure Up" primate silhouettes. We have several of these and it's fun to see how the kids have grown.

Tuesday, February 3

The picture is from today, but the story is from last week...
Last week, while one of my piano students was waiting for her mom to pick her up I was starting "Sleeping Beauty" for Natalie and my student told me Aurora was her favorite princess and when her family went to Disneyland in December she got to dance with Prince Phillip. After her story I told her Aurora was my favorite princess too. Then I asked Natalie..."who's your favorite princess?" Her reply: "Me!". Too cute! She's our favorite princess too!

Wednesday, February 4

Awhile back one of our friends posted a picture on her blog of her daughters "bed head" and dared anyone to compete...well I think she has some good competition with Natalie's "bed head" hair..."business in front and a party in the back!"

Thursday, February 5

Here's Hadyn and Natalie having making messes and having fun. I'm so lucky to have my sister down the street to trade babysitting with. We trade off during with week with Haydn and Natalie so we can volunteer at school in Ben and Isabel's Kindergarten classes. Natalie loves playing with Haydn...she asks for him every morning after we drop Ben and Isabel off! She's become interested in "having a friend over" because she watches Ben do it everyday.

Friday, February 6

It's my Dad's 60th birthday tomorrow. To celebrate, my Mom planned a birthday dinner for him with just the kids...no grandkids. We had a nice dinner at their house and played a couple of games. I love my family and enjoy fun times like that together.

Saturday, February 7

We made heart shaped pancakes for breakfast this morning...a preview for Valentine's Day next week. Just a lazy Saturday morning. Bryan worked for about 36 hours Thursday and Friday so we were trying to keep busy but quiet...not an easy task for two kids!

January 25 through 31

2009-01-26T20:05:00.000-08:00

Sunday, January 25

Natalie LOVES bandaids and requests them for every little hurt or "owie". Before going to bed, she told me her lip hurt and needed a bandaid. I tried to explain it wasn't really a good place to put a bandaid but she insisted and then brought me the biggest one in the box! She wore it long enough to snap a picture and then took it off..."no need this more."

Monday, January 26

We attended the open house for the new Draper Temple today. It was so beautiful inside and out and it was a great experience to take the kids to their first temple open house. They were really reverent and enjoyed it as much as we did. We loved showing them the mirrors in the sealing room and they were very impressed with the Celestial room. There wasn't a place to take a picture at the temple site but I snapped this picture of them in the parking lot holding their "maps" of the temple. It was a beatiful snowy day.

Tuesday, January 27

Today was Ben's last day off track so we went on one last adventure. We went to the Living Planet Aquarium then out to lunch to Sweet Tomatoes...or as Ben and Natalie would say "Sweet Potatoes". Our favorites at the aquarium were the sea horses, "Nemo's and Dori's", and the jelly fish. Kids favorites at "Sweet Potatoes"...mac and cheese and ice cream!

Wednesday, January 28

Back to school for Ben! He wasn't so sure he wanted to back to school but I went with him to volunteer in the classroom and we're officially back in the swing of things. Bryan took the picture for me. This was the second one...the first one had more somber faces so he made them say cheese to try to brighten it up a bit.

Thursday, January 29

Natalie has recently taken an interest in helping me clean. She's not too interested in putting away her toys (Ben's better at putting things away) but she loves to help scrub toilets, clean the fishbowl, sort laundry, and most recently...help iron. We're off to a good start!

Friday, January 30

Did you celebrate the Chinese New Year! Ben's Kindergarten teacher used to live in China and has been teaching them a little about Chinese New Year. Today they made these fun dragon masks and got a rice cake snack.

Saturday, January 31

Ben and Natalie love playing with the laundry baskets and pretending they are their own little houses or other hideaways...dog houses, Batman caves, etc. I love Ben's expression in this picture with Natalie tucked away in the basket. Everyday fun.

January 18 through 24

2009-01-19T14:28:00.000-08:00

Sunday, Jan. 18

"I'm ready for church, Mom!" Natalie (and Ben) love wearing my shoes, especially Sunday shoes, around the house. They call them "noisy shoes" and love clomping on the tile. Needless to say Dad loves it as he tries to sleep in a little!

Monday, Jan. 19

Can you see what Natalie filled her cereal bowl up this morning? Mike and Ike's candy. Nice and healthy, right! She also chose some yogurt to balance it out! It reminded me of one of Bill Cosby's routines about feeding his kids chocolate cake for breakfast. His kids convince him it's a good choice because it had eggs, flour, and milk in it. The kids chant: "Dad is great, he feeds us chocolate cake!" Ha, ha!

Tuesday, Jan. 20

Instead of staying home to watch the historic inauguration of Barak Obama, we chose to go on an outing to the Monte L. Bean Museum in Provo. We had a good time checking out the taxidermy animals on display. The kids hesitated at the door when they saw the first animals, but then they were able to enjoy it after I reminded them that the animals we stuffed...just like teddy bears! Afterward, we bought a treat the the candy counter in the BYU Bookstore. (Just FYI, I DID watch the inauguration over the web later.)

Wednesday, Jan. 21

I love little kids artwork...especially my own little kid's artwork! Ben has been really into Batman this week and drew this picture of Robin at his friend Tyler's house. Each week I try to showcase one piece of art from school, church or home on the refrigerator gallery.

Thursday, Jan. 22

We have a new toy at our house...one that I have a love-hate relationship with. It's a new PS3 (Playstation 3). Bryan has been shopping for one for several months and finally found a deal he was happy with. Ben has been in heaven playing Lego Batman and Lego Indiana Jones (Bryan likes it a little too!). We're on the hunt for the new Lego Star Wars. I know it's a boy thing to love video games and all but I just don't get it...oh well I know they don't get what I love about crafting. To each his own hobbies I guess! Natalie likes to play the "paystation" a little too, but she's like me and can only stare at the TV for so long. Cute picture though of them snuggled up together on the couch.

Friday, January 23

More cookie baking...we just can't get enough cookies at our house. It seems like when one batch is gone it's only a matter of days before we get out the chocolate chips and are at it again. My waistline is definitely absorbing the effects of such habits. I need to start looking for low fat recipes!

Saturday, January 24

We're all getting a little anxious for Spring around here...Natalie asked me for a snack today and after a little searching through the pantry she decided she needed a snowcone! I couldn't convince her it was too cold for such snacks, as you can see. We hope the groundhog has good news in a few weeks!

January 11 through 17

2009-01-16T20:50:00.002-08:00

Sunday, Jan. 11

No photo today...I'm still trying to get in the habit of taking pictures everyday. Love Sundays though...church, naps, visiting family.

Monday, Jan. 12

Natalie is my little shopper...she loves to run errands to the store with me. It can be exhausting though as you can see she fell asleep on the way home!

Tuesday, Jan. 13

We've had some sunny, warmer days this week so we decide to see what the park looked like after some thawing. It wasn't too bad...it was nice to be out in the sunshine...I even took off my coat!

Wednesday, Jan. 14

Again...no photo. I'll keep trying!

Thursday, Jan. 15

We are trying to find things to keep busy while Ben is off-track for what feels like forever! Today, we had a fun day (for the most part)at Jumpin' Jacks. They have lots of bounce toys. The kids managed to find a few things they like but shyed away from the big slides. Lots of people from our ward came and it got pretty busy and Ben and Natalie quickly got overstimulated and I think we were the first ones to leave! Oh well...it was nice to get out.

Friday, Jan. 16

Ben's 6th Birthday! We had a little party with a few friends...Indiana Jones was the theme. We had a treasure hunt, ate cake and ice cream and watch some movie clips. Ben loved it!

Saturday, Jan. 17

Seconds on Birthday fun for Ben. We had a family party today...more presents and a repeat of yesterday's cake and ice cream! Ben loved showing off his Indiana Jones hat and satchel from yesterday's party. As people arrived and saw his costume, they asked "hey, is that Indiana Jones?" Ben, so cute, took off the hat and replied: "No, it's me, Ben...see?" So funny!

January 4 through 10

2009-01-16T20:50:00.001-08:00

Sunday, Jan. 4th

We made the first batch of cookies for the new year...Cake Mix Chocolate cookies. Easy recipe - yummy cookies!

1 chocolate cake mix
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 cup or so of chocolate chips

Mix and bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Enjoy!

Monday, Jan. 5th

Despite Christmas decorations and wrappings being put away for a week now, Ben decided to wear his striped Christmas socks today...Natalie wore hers yesterday! We need to look into getting some Valentine's socks otherwise they might be wearing their Halloween socks tomorrow. They love holiday socks!

Tuesday, Jan. 6th

Library Day...I forgot to take the camera to the library so I'll have to do that picture another time. But here's a pic of our findings. We love our little local library. They don't have the largest selection but we love the close location and the kids think the bean bags and little couches are great! Ben recently got his own library card and loves checking out his own books and movies.

Wednesday, Jan. 7th

Lunch time! On the menu today, for Ben - "hot dog on bread with ketchup, no mustard and a brownie and chocolate milk" and for Natalie - "peanut butter sandwich cut in a heart and a brownie and apple juice".

Thursday, Jan. 8th

We ventured out to the neighborhood skate park with some friends. Ben brought his scooter and Natalie brought her Big Wheel. It was a little overwhelming for my anxious two but they managed to have fun running around with their friends and going down the "bunny slopes".

Friday, Jan. 9th

Looking at little messy faces and sticky fingers reminds me of this wonderful quote:

"Be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will—to your surprise—miss them profoundly."
~President Thomas S. Monson

Saturday, Jan. 10th

Just a regular Saturday...cleaning house, errands, cleaning the building, pizza for dinner. The kids relaxed and enjoyed playing with their Christmas toys.

January 1 through 3

2009-01-16T20:49:00.000-08:00

Thursday, Jan. 1st

We have 2 new additions to our family...Goldy and Red. A few months ago, Ben started asking me if we could get a dog. Well, if any of you know him you would laugh just as I did because he jumps in my arms if we get any where near a dog! Anyway, we went the rounds with why not and I ended up suggesting maybe we should try a goldfish for a pet. He liked that idea but we never did anything about it and I just put him off. Well, 2 weeks ago we got this book from the library called "Dogfish". A really cute story about a boy who wants a dog but just has a goldfish. I highly recommend it...such a well-written, cute story. So the book rekindled his desire to have a goldfish and New Year's day we ventured out to Walmart and came home with a fishbowl kit and 2 pet goldfish. They have affectionately been named Goldie and Red. The kids love them!

Friday, Jan.2nd

Since our huge snowstorm on Christmas Day, the kids have been asking to play in the snow. We have lacked some snow gear though and it's not very fun for long without such luxuries. However, thanks to some after Christmas sales, they are now the happy owners of new snowpants and boots and have enjoyed tumbling around without having to endure wet and cold jeans and soggy shoes and socks! Yeah! Bring on winter!

Saturday, Jan. 3rd

Ben and Natalie spent "the BEST day" with Nana, Grandpa and Aunt Sissa today. Bryan and I traveled to Preston, ID for a friends funeral and the kids spent 12 wonderful hours with my parents. They played, went to a movie (Disney's Bolt), visited cousin William, and went out to dinner! My parents were troopers to take them so long but the kids had a wonderful day. Thanks Mom and Dad!

(Picture to come)