THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!!!!

The other day I took my 4 year old nephew to see the local middle school production of "The Wiz", an adaption of the Wizard of Oz.  In one scene, the Wicked Witch of the West is on her thrown and the munchkins are working around her.  As the munchkins work, they groan and move about slowly (just like my kids do when they are forced to work).  My sweet little nephew turns to me and says "Are they ZOMBIES?"....  Honesty, I don't know what to say to that.

Flashback to 2010: No more blanket!

Now most people are going to think I'm mean because I took away my daughters blanket. But let me fill you in on a few details. Some kids suck on binkies, some on thumbs. My FeFe decided at a very young age (1 month) to suck on a very soft, plush blanket. She would take this blanket and CRAM as much of it as she could into that tiny mouth of hers and suck away. That is the only way she would fall asleep. And normally this wouldn't have been a problem except for two small things. First, she would not sleep without it. If if had every been lost or misplaced, we would have been in real trouble. Thankfully, it was never too far. The second problem was that she ate food. Problem you say? Yes, because some food is always left behind in the mouth, hence left behind on said blanket. Yummy, I know.

Anyway, we promised her all kinds of things (treats, candy, swing set, trampoline) to convince her to stop but nothing was promising enough to entice her.  Until we mentioned a friend party at the bouncy house.  Yep, that's all it took.  Three friends, two hours of bouncing, and McDonalds for lunch.  If only her dad could be bought so easily!

And with that, no more blanket!  It makes an appearance every now and then, but thankfully it is never in her mouth!

A New Start!

Life is full of twists and turns!  The last few years I took on a lot of things I felt I needed to do for myself, just to realize the things I needed were right here all along!  So with that, I simplified my life and am hoping to be able to document my children's lives more fully because, as I am just coming to know, they will be gone way sooner than I'd like.

Kindergarten,1st Grade and Mrs. Cloud!

To kill two birds with one stone, this will include the last two years of school!!

Last year (2010) NayNay started Kindergarten! I was so excited for him and the great experience he would have. He was able to ride the bus, eat at school a few times, meet new friends, color, read, play, and much more, then come home and spend some great afternoons with me! What made it even better was the fact that FeFe started preschool at the amazing Mrs. Clouds the same year, but at a different time. NayNay would go to school in the morning, leaving me with one-on-one time with FeFe and FeFe would go to school in the afternoon so I could enjoy some lazy afternoons with my NayNay. And to top it all off they both had the most amazing teachers. Each teacher was patient and loving and made my children feel special! The hardest part was that when summer came, I wasn't able to keep their minds as focused and stimulated as their wonderful teachers had and they quickly became bored with me. And we all know what happens when a child is bored ;)!

Anyway, here are my sweeties on their first day of school 2010!!

See the joy in those faces? They are so ready to grow up and be big...sniff, sniff. With that in mind, here they are this year, 2011, going back to Mrs. Cloud (yippee!) and off to first grade!

I must admit that when NayNay went to Kindergarten I was not sad in the least bit. I was so excited for him to have such a new and exciting experience! This changed a lot for first grade. Although I knew he was ready for more, I was not ready for less. He gets on the bus at 9 am and doesn't get off until 4 pm. Then there are chores, homework, dinner and bed. Where is my fun time, my cuddle time, my "just me and you" time? I do miss him so much and I love the moment he walks in my door at 4 pm.

I just have to make every second count! Love you bug!

Do I have Something on my Face?

End of summer trip to Utah....in 2010!

Did you notice the date? Yeah, I’m a year behind. Better late than never, right?!!

So at the end of last summer we did our usual 3 week long trip to Utah. It was full of lots of fun friends, activities, and food, but for some reason I didn’t get very many pictures. Maybe they are all on my dad’s camera…hint, hint!

Anyway, it’s not a trip to Utah without helping Grandpa water the lawn! It’s like being a real firefighter and if you’re fast enough you even get to spray Grandpa! FeFe knows this but is also smart enough to know that Grandpa will return the favor if he gets the chance so every time he showed up she ran for cover!


We were also lucky enough to be there for the annual Box Elder County Fair! What an adventure! It sure took me back to my time of 4-H baking and sewing! Weird considering I don’t bake or sew anything now. The kids loved seeing all the chickens, pigs, horses, cows and sheep. They ended the day dancing in a pavilion set up for concerts! Lots of fun and lots of tired kids!


Mamu and I did some fun shopping while eating delicious treats. We made sure to protect our eyes from those harmful UV rays. It sure is bright in Utah!



We ended our trip to Grandma and Grandpa’s by going to see them at work! They do say you shrink when you get older, crazy how fast life happens!



Looking good Grandma and Grandpa!!

We did have one other fun adventure that I have no pictures to show. NayNay and Grandpa decided to go on their first official hike. The trail they chose starts at Tony’s Grove and winds it’s way up and then back into White Pine. They then had to come back out. Total miles: 9. It definitely wasn’t easy for NayNay and many times he decided he was done and was just going to wait, but in the end he hiked the full 9 miles all by himself! He is so proud of that hike that even now, a year later, he boasts about it! Good job Bug!

After hanging with Grandma and Grandpa’s for awhile, we headed down to visit Mana and Papa. First we stopped to enjoy Uncle Punks fancy pool! The kids LOVED it!


But, my poor Northwest babies, they can’t take direct sunlight for too long!


We headed to the Zoo with Mana, Aunt Emily and Fe! I love the lion drinking fountains!

And then headed to the mountains! FeFe’s memory of this was that Papa found a dead bunny and she is sure he was the one that killed it. He adamantly denies this, but she doesn’t believe him! NayNay received a special gift from Papa, his very own fly fishing rod, made just for him by Papa!! He loved it and spent hours at the river!


Best Buddies!


Needless to say, we ended our vacation at a BYU football game, on a very hot, Saturday evening. NayNay was able to stay awake the whole game, an improvement from last year, and really enjoyed hanging out with Mana!


Thank you Grandma and Grandpa and Mana and Papa for such a wonderful vacation! We can’t wait to visit again!

Summer 2010: Summer Fun!

Summer took it's sweet time coming so when it finally did we took full advantage of it! There is a large park near our home with a single water feature that the kids LOVE! Just look at the joy on their faces!

We also got to head to the zoo, thanks to a good friend with a season pass!!

NayNay loved feeding the birds! There were so many and they came right up to him and ate and ate and ate! Look at those happy eyes!

FeFe loved feeding the goats. She loved it so much, she would even let them lick her fingers! NayNay, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with them.

We can't wait to go again this year!