Glimpses

Lately...

2012-01-18T11:34:00.000-08:00

(sorry for the blur..this is not the best picture, but this guy was so much fun to have around this Christmas. Everything was so exciting.)

We spent a merry time in Utah for Christmas. It was a juggling act with so many people to see and not enough time to see everyone as much as we would have liked but it was a jolly good time!

The boys and I were spoiled and got to fly into town a week

early to watch Audra's girls while her and Tyson went to New York.

Adam and Addi drove our car with all our packages once things at the office

and school were finished. They had a fun time together on their road trip.

We also had a lot of fun and Oh how we love these ladies.

They are the most delicate, sweet and beautiful little things,

but around my boys, they sure know how to play. They both remind me of their momma!

I had a fun time taking our good friends family pictures. Im loving my camera and have been working on learning how to actually use it.

Christmas 2011

Growing up so fast.

2011-08-14T18:28:00.000-07:00

Oh my my what would we ever do without this girl around. She is such a delight. Today she went to her first sewing class and is totally hooked!

I miss having this guy around all day now that he started full day Kindergarten!

Hes usually the calm of the storm around here and he always surprises me with a good laugh.

This guy is my little buddy. He really wishes he was bigger though.

This week I dropped something off at the kids school and he took off sprinting

to the fifth graders hall because he wanted to go to "his teacher". He only

stopped when he realized he didn't have his backpack.

Funny funny kid!

Gillar Girl

2010-01-25T12:59:00.001-08:00

One of my favorite design blogs that I follow is written by Gillar girl. The girl has great style and shares clever, out-of-the-box, decorating ideas. If I ever decide to go the route of hiring a designer, she's on the top of my list. I also love Tiffany's blog because she features great tips for moms on everything fom teaching your children values, to keeping them entertained in the summer.

She recently did a post about a meaningful activity they did as a family to help people in Haiti. You can read about it here. This activity is just what we need around here because my kids are concerned and they want to do something, but just giving them money to donate doesn't feel right. It would be a lost opportunity. Go check out her blog. I'm sure you'll love it as much as I do.

On your Mark...

2010-01-19T17:02:00.000-08:00

Blogging tip.

2010-01-15T20:03:00.001-08:00

(Just love this boy. He's like the sunshine in our family. Charlie @ 5 months old,)

I just found a new way to select the size of your photos without going in and changing the html. I realize

I might be one of the last to know this but for any of you that have been left in the dark like me, here it is....

Go to Settings>scroll to the bottom to Global Settings> click on updated editer> Save settings.

Now when you upload a picture you can select the size. Small, medium, large, etc.

Tada!

A few of my favorite things.

2009-12-01T10:09:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas traditions. One of my favorite is decorating our tree. We decorate with ornaments made with photos from years past. This is a tradition that Adam has brought from his family. However after 10 years of collecting and a huge box of Adam's childhood picture ornaments that his mom gave me last year, our tree was getting a little full. So this year we're dividing them among two trees. Some for our great room and some for the kids playroom tree. I get a kick out of seeing which ones are my kids favorites. Beck loves the plastic Chrismas tree ornament with Adam in his Davis football uniform. Addy loves the homemade ornament she made out of puzzle pieces painted green and formed into the shape of a wreath. The center of the tree has her first grade picture in it. This week I've been editing and framing all of our Christmas pics to make ornaments for our great room tree. So far I only have 6 that I am using but I'm keeping them all 5X7 and so it works. (Our tree is also fat and tall and so it doesn't look too bad).

A new tradition this year I am excited about is an advent surprise calendar. Each day the kids have a message "delivered" with a special thing to do to celebrate the season. Today we are getting donuts and going on the Christmas lights tour our city puts on at the park. Most days are going to be simple things like reading a Christmas book, making hot chocolate, turning on the fire and singing Christmas songs. I am still working on my method of delivery but it should be fun.

What about you, what are some of your favorites that you have planned for the season?

Why haven't I done this before!

2009-11-21T00:41:00.000-08:00

Doesn't this just look delicious! I'm kidding.

But seriously this BABY food has Charlie

climbing out of his seat to get to it (I didn't even

realize he could do that!)

The best part is I winged it, which I'm sure

will make my mother proud

( I'm a recipe type girl)

Pretty simple:

Peal Sweet potatoes

Boil for 20 minutes

Add 1/2 cup water used to cook potatoes

and 1tsp olive oil

for every whole potatoe.

Blend in Blender

(I used my magic bullet and it worked fine)
Store in airtight container up to 5 days

My babies 9 months old

2009-11-18T09:00:00.000-08:00

Charles

Beck

Addy

I keep looking at Charlie and thinking he reminds me so much of

Addy and Beck. I found these pictures at similar ages

and although they don't pass as the same baby, they sure are similar.

What do you think? Is it just me?

See that cute blue eyed baby at the end.....that's my blue eyed

baby. But at age 2 she became my green eyed girl. It happened over night!

Crazy Hair Day

2009-10-22T15:08:00.001-07:00

This pic was taken after a full day of school but you

get the idea, right. It feels good to finally put

Adam's drycleaning hangers to use. (1 down 300 to go)

)

2009-10-18T15:49:00.000-07:00

My cute sister Audra is hosting this fabulous boutique at her clubhouse on Wednesday, October 28. I am coming down and can't wait. If you're available please come and support her. I'd love to see you all there. I promise you wont be disappointed. Her stuff alone is to die for. She has a darling brand Lovely MaY that features little girl's skirts and hair accessories that are very chic and have incredible workmanship. She also has several other vendors that will be there and as I've looked through their stuff, I am getting very excited. For more information click here http://monstermashboot.blogspot.com/ Hope to see you there!

Vacation

2009-07-28T16:19:00.001-07:00

We went up to Logan for a little vacation this

month. Adam's parents have a quaint little

cabin up the canyon and for the first time

I can see why Adam loves it so much. The cabin is

surrounded by massive trees and so it makes

a huge difference in the temperature, plus its right

by the river and so it's great entertainment for

fishing and throwing rocks and sticks in the water.

We went to Bear Lake for a day, went on a little hike

enjoyed good food, watched movies, played ball at the

park, and spent a pretty slow paced week, but with our little

guy in tow, it was the perfect retreat.

He's here!

2009-03-03T14:54:00.000-08:00

Charles Adam Sheffield

Born: Feb 10
Height: 21 inches
Weight:8 lbs 9 oz

He's perfect and such a good baby. I had a C-section without going into labor and I don't know if that is what made it so much easier this time but everything went great.

Of course that's when it all went crazy. The first two weeks of this little guys life in our family were a little hectic. He had pretty bad jaundice at a day old and so he had to stay in the nursery the whole time under the lights, and had to stay on a bili blanket for a few days once we brought him home. Addy and Beck both got fevers and bad coughs and so up until a few days ago, Charlie and I were placed in quarantine back in the T.V. room which I will now forever refer to as "the cave." Meanwhile Adam took care of all of us. ( Thank goodness for our parents and my sister as well as our ward!) However regardless our efforts, I still managed to get the cough and that combined with a C-section was not very pleasant. Then, Addy got an earache, got in a bike accident and chipped half of her front (permanent) tooth off (two days before school pictures). Our car had some problems. I went in for an emergency CAT scan because my doctor thought I might have a clot in my lung. Thank goodness all was well and I just have some fluid in my lung cavity (I don't know if that even makes sense but that's how I understood it) All I know is it hurts but it isn't dangerous so we're safe. To top it all off, Addy, Beck and I have each had our own post-par tum series of emotions and so each situation has brought tears and a tantrum or two (from the kids of course......me..... never).

Charles turned 3 weeks today and the past week has been uneventful and surprisingly................pleasant. We cherish the little guy and Adalynn and Beck are finally able to bond a little with their new brother and thats been a lot of fun to watch. If you've read this and there is not a picture yet, it's coming soon!

2009-01-13T11:29:00.000-08:00

This is a little late I know but unless you got

a wrapped gift from me this year you probably

didn't get this card either. Mailing out

Christmas cards is always one of the things that

is last on my list and unfortunately this year I didn't

quite make it to the finish line. (Mom that should explain why

most of your gifts weren't really wrapped this year either.)

But still, I hope you all

had a great Christmas and want to wish you a

great 2009!

Thinking white

2008-11-14T11:06:00.000-08:00

My nesting instinct has hit as it always does the last few months of pregnancy. I cleaned our garage out by myself the day before I went into labor with Beck. Adam actually started the project but then got called away to help our neighbor retile his roof. It was a project that I knew he would be helping with all day and I was not about to let the weekend pass knowing that I could possibly be bringing a baby home with a garage in disarray. That was my rational at the time and looking back it does seem a little silly that I was determined to clear out the garage, water tanks and all, being 9 months pregnant. Though, it sure made sense at the time.

I have found myself in a similar situation in which I am dying over this living room and feel a sense of urgency over it. I love it and I really want to recreate it. I have even spent some time looking through catalogs on how to make it work in my great room. The only problem is I'm getting ready for baby number 3. I currently have a husband and two kids who love more than anything to use this room as a playground to wrestle with eachother on the floor and forget about trying to encourage any rules about balls or cartwheels not being allowed because it's really not an option, and so in white slipcovers probably aren't either.

So I have decided that my nesting instinct is probably a little off. I'm that crazy bird you might find planning a trip to fly North for the cold months until I figured out we're supposed to fly South.

Fancy Nancy Birthday Party!

2008-10-11T12:32:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the help of my Mom and Audra, Adam

and I were able to pull off Adalynn's birthday

party with her friends. It was complete with Dress ups,

Pass the Purse game, Dress up Relay Races,

Fancy Craft, Dancing, Parfaits, and a Pinata!

However I must say that there is a tie between

my two favorite parts of the event.

My Mom deserves an award for her animated reading of "Fancy Nancy". She began by telling each one of the girls that they were "beeutiful!" by name and when she asked the girls who they thought she thought was the most "beeutiful", they all happily exclaimed Adalynn! She joyfully replied "No, Me of course!" And with that she won them over as they proceeded to happily sit for several minutes and listen to her tell the story of a little girl who loves everything fancy. It was very silly and very fun. Thanks Mom!

The Cute Butlers, who showed up to help serve parfaits and assist where they could. However for the "help", I will say that I found them hiding out upstairs more than once watching football. I am still giving them an award just for showing up. They are both good sports.

Happy Birthday Adalynn

2008-10-11T12:16:00.000-07:00

Adalynn turned seven years old!

Of course we had a great time

celebrating. She got to choose

to go out for dinner wherever she wanted

and of course that took us to Chuck-E-Cheeses.

Her day was filled with special things one of which

included Adam taking the day off work. Adam, Beck, and I also

met her at school to eat lunch with her at the lunch table.

Watching her interact with the

other kids makes me realize more how

"grown up" she is. I know the day will come when she won't

think that us coming is such a great thing but

thank goodness it hasn't come yet. She was thrilled.

As we were leaving we offered to let her skip

the rest of the day and go do something fun

but she declined of course.

It's a boy!

2008-10-10T23:25:00.000-07:00

We've known this for a while now but I've had some problems with my computer and so I have yet to make an announcement. (This also explains the large gap between this and my last post.)
We were a little surprised because every one thought it was going to be a girl for sure (except my Mom of course who is now 3 for 3). But now that we know, a boy seems like the perfect fit. We are so excited. Now we just need to figure out his name. If you have some good ideas please leave a comment!

Mrs. Drowning, and Mr. Dying of Thirst.

2008-07-27T23:50:00.001-07:00

I once heard something about a mom's predicament being that she often feels like she is drowning and a Father's is that he can feel like he is going to die of thirst. I loved it because it's funny and yet so true. So this weekend Adam got a tall glass of water and took the kids up to Bear Lake and stayed at his family's cabin with his brothers and their kids. (that's right, no women which in this case would be known as the cook, cleaner and "babysitter J/k) The best part is not only did they survive, they had a great time. I on the other hand got on a "float tube" with a bunch of my friends and went up to Park City to stay over night. We went to dinner, watched a movie, stayed up talking until 4, slept in until 10, went to lunch and then shopped for hours. We finally closed the day and came in to Salt Lake for CPK. It was such a short trip but enough to make me thirsty and remind me how much I love to swim (not literally of course because if you've followed my blog you would know that it scares me)

I love a good Sale!

2008-07-27T23:17:00.000-07:00

I was raised by my mother and so for me there is nothing

better than a good sale. So here is the inside scoop...

Park City's Teenie Wahini Quicksilver store (not outlet) on

Main (I think) has all of their infant and toddler clothes
50% off. So if you're heading up to the outlets

to do a little school shopping this store might go on your list.

It's all shorts and short sleeves but I just stocked

up on Beck's wardrobe for next spring and summer. They

are still not the lowest prices for kids clothes,

but considering the price of the brand I found some good deals.

Mommy Daughter trip

2008-07-27T22:52:00.000-07:00

Addy and I went to Long Beach to visit Audra

and her family this past week. We

had such a great time but I already miss my sister

so much. We had a fun at Newport beach. Addy wanted

to be burried in the sand "sitting up" and thanks

to Londy's help it happened. Doesn't she look

so proud of her hard work

Heartbeat

2008-07-27T21:19:00.001-07:00

There have been a few memorable times I've lay by Adam, heard his heart beating and experienced the overwhelming feeling of love and gratitude and yet fear for that vital organ whose simple function is to pump blood and oxygen through his body and yet keeps this man that I couldn't live without in my life. I've also had that experience with both of my kids. It's a great moment where I realize how much I need to savor each moment I have with them in this sweet time of their childhood when their heart beats so fast and yet time goes by even faster. I now can add another experience to my list........ I have been pregnant eight times, but Adalynn and Becks are the only heartbeat I have ever heard out of all my pregnancies. I usually have a miscarriage before I've gone to the doctor (12 weeks) and in the last few I miscarried before we could detect the heartbeat (8 weeks) . This week I went to the doctor and after 10 weeks of being nauseated and tired and a little discouraged with the realization that I shouldn't get my hopes up, we saw a tiny delicate heartbeat and everything changed. We are once again filled with excitement and wonder as we anxiously await the arrival of the next member of our family.

Mom's bedtime stories

2008-06-10T22:31:00.000-07:00

The other night

Beck was having a hard time falling asleep and so

I came in and told him that if he would stop crying and lay down

I would tell him a story. Before I knew it I was

telling him a similar story to the ones my mom used to tell me and my siblings.

It was about 2 (no longer 5) kids that lived

on a farm and of course their names were Adalynn and

Beck (no longer Daniel, Gretchen, Anthony, Nicolas, and Audra).

They each have a dog and a horse and from there

the adventure series has taken off. I have had to come

up with double material every night because Addy hides

in the bathroom so she can hear Beck's story

and then when it's her bedtime an hour later, she

of course wants a new one.

*Update*

The funniest thing is that the other day I heard Beck

telling someone about his dog, "Max."

(We don't have a dog but that's the name of his dog in his stories)
So I guess for now that will do.

Playing in the mud

2008-06-10T21:01:00.000-07:00

We went camping in Northern Utah and let's

just say it is clear that we don't do that enough

because my dear Adam being the big kid that he is

just couldn't wait to get dirty and play in the mud.

I have to admit I sure had fun spraying him

off with the freezing cold water. That's what he gets

for making me sleep all night in a tent trailor

without electricity or a bathroom right? I'm just kidding.

I really do enjoy it because I can't think of a time

that we are happier (My kids and Adam,

therefore me too).

Ladies Man

2008-05-18T17:36:00.001-07:00

I'm in love and

it's with this blue eyed

little man who thinks he's Spiderman

(he's never seen the show but he sure loves his jammies)

I walked in the door

and Adam said "Hey gorgeous" and

Beck enthusiastically repeats

"Hi mommy gorgeous."

He doesn't really know what

it means but every time

he does it I get

a huge smile on my face.

Ladies watch out cause this little guy

already has me feeling a little

flustered and I'm his momma.

Good bye Dino Nuggets, hello spinach salad

2008-05-18T17:33:00.000-07:00

Spring is always a time when I get in the mood to be a lot more active and heavy comfort food sounds ... well heavy and fresh veggies sound perfect. Joanne was in town last week and I got the best recipe from her and her mom, Orva. It is a yummy spinach salad with fruit and no dressing. I was a little hesitant, but I made it for dinner and not only did I love it but my kids loved it too. I had to build momentum with Beck and explain that he had to eat a little piece of fruit with each "dinosaur leaf". After a few bites he was stuffing his mouth and laughing. He kept saying "I yike it". I want to explain that on an average day my kids will eat a piece of fruit, a healthy dose of ketchup and if I top the day off with a little applesauce, that is shamefully pretty much the extent of their daily contribution from the fruit and vegetable food group. The unforgivable part of this is when I actually try, they are both pretty good sports about it. I just need to be a little better. Thanks Joanne!

Spinach Salad

I bag of spinach chopped
( Chop spinach into small pieces)
1 cup of mixed berries, thawed (Costco blend)
1 orange chopped into bitesize pieces
1 banana sliced and then each slice quartered
1/4 cup walnets chopped

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Serves 2 (or 1 adult and 2 kids)
The most important part is cutting each ingredient into similar size pieces so the spinach blends well with the fruit.

Mission Completed

2008-05-18T15:56:00.001-07:00

This weekend I completed the "Women of Steel" triathlon. Before anyone gets too impressed I should explain that it is a race you should train for but not one you necessarily have to be a great athlete to do. It's a sprint triathlon created for women only. It's a 300 meter pool swim, a 12.5 mile bike, and then a 5k race. This is my second year doing it and I can't say enough good about it. It's a great race that gets a lot of support from the community. It's all about women taking care of their health and the participants range from full blown athletes running a 5 1/2 minute average mile to women who may have overcome hard physical challenges and are possibly running/walking a 15 minute mile. I fall somewhere in between the two but being my second time it was fun to look back and try to beat my time from last year. (I did so this year was a success) For any of you that are interested they post all the information on http://triutah.com/ in January. Hopefully I will see lots of you gals there next year. (Especially you Audra, Joanne, Amber....Mom!....I say we plan a sister trip around it.)

Audra just reminded me about the best part of the race. The last 100 ft of the race to the finish line I came around the corner and there was my little family cheering me on. All of the sudden I heard Adam yell "Go Addy Go" and my sweet Adalynn came sprinting up to me and grabs my hand and was literally pulling me as we raced to the finish line.

You get a cute necklace that has a tri figurine on it and she

has kept mine from last year and is excited about the one this year. She

is very proud that I particpate in these races and is for sure my

biggest fan.

During the race when it becomes sort of a mental battle, she is kind of my secret

weapon. It is very important to me that I pass on a positive body image to her

in which she values the body that she has been given and does what

she can to stay active and healthy. At the point when I need

some motivation I think of finishing strong for her and the race

becomes a cakewalk, at least mentally.

A little creepy

2008-05-14T13:27:00.001-07:00

Last year Adam inspired me to train for a triathlon

and I found one that I can commit to each year.

It's a women's only sprint triathlon with all of the fun

and none of the testosterone. However, I have clearly not trained

enough in the swim this year

because when I saw a group of soon to be

certified scuba divers at the bottom of the pool last night

I almost lost it. (As in full blown anxiety attack).

I felt an uncontrollable urge to rescue them because

there was clearly no way they could breath at the bottom of the pool.

They were drowning! (I was delusional)

I tried to convince myself that they were fine but it didn't work.

The swim portion of the race is what I really struggle

with. I've heard some people talk about falling

into a rhythm but can't do it.

I get so tense while I hold my breathe.

I can't stop thinking about

drowning.

I need some help or maybe just a good tranquilizer

which I'm sure I would love to have in my system while

"I'm swimming for my life!" (I convince myself

of this during my drills so I'll go faster but it probably

doesn't help the problem...)

Sand it is

2008-05-06T13:56:00.000-07:00

We are currently in the process of putting

our landscaping together and we have been

debating about what to do in the play area

for a while now.

Wood chips, rubber,... sand!

I never thought I would see the day but

having kids changes you or at least it helps you remember

a little better what it is like to be a kid and understand

that shiny wood floors aren't that cool and a big

castle with a bridge and an underground tunnel system full

of water is a creation that you'll remember forever.....

You should see Adalynn's eyes light up when I tell her about the

things we used to build.

So I guess it's happy playtime for them and happy mopping for me.

(At least now I can do it with a smile on my face instead of disgust

because of all the dirt!)

Anthony's Wedding

2008-04-30T21:08:00.000-07:00

This last week Anthony got married and we had such

a great time celebrating. I love that we now have Amber

as an official member of our family. She was such a

beautiful bride and the wedding and reception were perfect.

It was a great day.

Whats in a name

2008-04-07T23:36:00.001-07:00

Adam's mom gave her kids fun nicknames that she would use for their scrapbooks and stuff when they were little. When we were dating I loved this and I was so excited because she came up with 3 names for me and told me I could choose which one I liked. The one I chose is Gritty Gretty, always ready, Adam's Betty Mott (now Sheffield). I couldn't resist this one because I loved being referred to as Adam's Betty (I got the nickname before any of that was really talked about). Anyway this was something that was really fun while we were dating. Yesterday Adalynn found out that we both had names and she asked me to make one up for her. This is what I've come up with so far.

Tender Addy sweety girl, Grown up little Sheffield

Addy Sweety Smart little May, talking jumping Sheffield

Expressive Adalynn, A little sweety, Dreamy Super Sheffield

I think I might let her choose after I fine tune these ones and come up with 3 that really fit her personality. (This is a lifetime nick name and it needs to fit so what do you think.)

I'll figure out Beck's nickname when he is six years old. ( Most of the adjectives I come up with for him might not fit so much when he is older and he'd probably kill me later if I included something about him sucking his thumb, but it is just oh so tempting because I love it so much.)

For the Boys

2008-03-14T08:37:00.000-07:00

I'm an Edward fan and always have been. Adam has never read the books but he is well aware of who he is and has even made a joke about him being his competition. I love Edward and have even told Adam that I feel sorry for myself that he doesn't love me like Edward loves Bella (I know I'm a dork, but I'm getting to that). Anyway yesterday I overheard a group of women who were having a conversation about how incredible he is blah blah and the thought occurred to me that I am a little crazy. Can you imagine what a fit I would throw if he "fantasized" about .... Bella. If I were ever compared to how great another woman was or even a female figure in a book, Adam would be in a lot of trouble. I guess it's been a bit of a double standard

This girl loves to talk

2008-03-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

Adalynn loves to talk and most of the time, if she's

thinking about something and it's somewhat important to

her, she is probably talking about it and from

every angle for that matter.

This is obviously

a trait that she gets from me,

I have noticed on occasionthat she tends to wear people out.

The other day she had a friend over

and the little girl was getting annoyed with her.

It also seems to happen a lot as I'm checking out

of our grocery store. By the time we leave, the cashier

usually knows where we are going, where we've been

what our list had on it and what we are going to use it for. etc.etc.

My first impulse when I catch her in these moments

is to quiet her as gently as possible. I'm her Mom

and I want to protect her and save her from

any rejection that will ever come her way.

I was taking about a similar subject with a friend

and she was telling me about a "problem" her sister

had and she went to her mom and told her that as her mother,

she really needed to talk to her about it because it was

a problem. Her mom's response changed my perspective.

She said something to the effect of "Don't you

think she's going to get that enough. I feel like

I need to be the one person in the world that makes

her feel accepted for just the way she is."

So... I am working on being a better listener.

I could use a good trainer and I happen to

think that she is perfect for the job!

For all you Jane Austen fans

2008-03-04T22:12:00.001-08:00

This is a fun little test. I have to admit, I was a little tempted to answer

each question according to the character that I wanted to be rather than

how I would honestly answer for myself.

Take the Quiz here!

Bikram Yoga

2008-02-04T09:34:00.000-08:00

This weekend I went to a Bikram class. The air was

thick, hot, and smelly, and the postures

took everything I had mentally and physically (although

they didn't usually end up looking as great as this girls

posted above. ) However, it was awesome. I loved it.

I've really missed dancing lately and even though

I teach, I was interested in attending a class that would

fill that void. Yoga is great but sometimes it's more

meditative than challenging. Bikram Yoga is very

challenging and left me feeling empowered and

full of life.

Kiss and make up

2008-01-28T23:30:00.001-08:00

Our solution to pulling hair or any bad behavior

towards each other is that they have to say

sorry and give each other a kiss. (Addy also

has to take a time out if she was the culprit)

I realize that this system

is somewhat flawed in that Beck usually looks

like he is enjoying himself and Adalynn looks

like she is being tortured.

We need a vacation!

2008-01-27T21:46:00.001-08:00

Today at church everyone was talking about Disneyland (I guess I should first explain and say that my calling is in the nursery and this is where and with whom the conversation occured). It started when one of the dads in helping his daughter brought up that he was going to disneyland with his kids. Their kids, however, didn't know this yet and they were just going to get the car all packed and show up at school, check them out and then on their way out of town fill them in on the surprise. This whole idea made me decide that we are going to plan a vacation just to do this. I'm getting excited just thinking about Adalynn's reaction. Granted she is in kindergarten and heaven knows she doesn't need a break from school. (On Christmas break she was literally begging me to take her back to school. She's a social butterfly........ and I just can't imagine where she got it from...) But still I think this is a tradition I want to start. Now I just have to decide where to.

Thank You Tyson

2008-01-27T17:28:00.000-08:00

I don't know where Addy got her training,

but somehow she instinctively new exactly

what to do when I told her to pose for a picture

of our great new back-splash. Tyson and Audra

came up for a couple of week-ends and Tyson did

a fabulous job as you can see. Audra and I had a

fun time shopping together too. Our tile design

is a result of split decision where Adam prefers

the brick tiles and I prefer the horizontal ones.

We love the result ( We didn't get the

nickname salt and pepper for nothing)

We feel so lucky to have such a

talented brother-in-law.

Caught in the Act

2008-01-27T16:16:00.000-08:00

Addy loves to look at the pictures on my camera

as soon as I take a few. When she saw this one

as we were browsing through she said

"Yes! Now I can show Daddy when he

gets home from work and Beck will

be in so much trouble." To give the

girl some credit this is quite a problem. As you

all know, Beck has a thing for holding on to our hair

and has recently discovered that pulling it is a

great way to tease his sister.

Tickle Me Elmo

2008-01-27T16:06:00.000-08:00

Beck warmed up to his "Tickle me Elmo"

on Christmas morning. At first he was so

confused, but by the third time you tickle

his stomache, Elmo does a gut laugh that

is great and Beck smiled and is now telling

the camera that it is funny.

Adalynn doing yoga poses

2007-12-16T18:36:00.000-08:00

Audra and Tyson came up for family dinner

and Audra showed us the pose she did at

the Bikram competition. Adalynn was very

inspired because she kept trying to do it. We

were all telling her that she was doing it great,

but she wasn't satisfied until we took this picture.

It looks like I am torturing the poor girl, but I

assure you that most of this was her. I was

just trying to help her hold it long enough to take

a picture.

Leading the way

2007-12-16T08:56:00.000-08:00

We went to visit Daniel and Joanne for Thanksgiving.

Beck was so funny to watch at the airport. He was

very determined to walk the whole time by himself and

he would not let us help him with his carry-on

suitcase. This picture was caught in a rare moment

when he actually let Adam hold his hand. Most of the

time he wanted to lead the way....all by himself.

My little man

2007-12-05T21:08:00.000-08:00

I bought a frame for Adam's office and I wanted to

fill it with pictures. Both Adalynn and Beck enjoy

posing and so it made my job easy. They love

the process of a digital camera and the

immediate reward makes taking pictures

very fun.

I don't know if they'll ever learn the concept of

delayed gratification?

Water Games

2007-12-05T17:05:00.000-08:00

We had a lot of fun playing in the front yard this summer.

I was a little nervous about Beck because our front

yard was not the best "playground" without grass

and the street seemed very enticing regardless

of all the construction trucks passing bye. Adam let him

play freely with the hose one afternoon and our problems were

solved. He literally spent hours playing with the hose.

The best part is that he refused to let it go and so even

though we had front row seats in the entertainment,

he never even thought about escaping into the street.

Fort Worth Zoo

2007-11-22T11:27:00.000-08:00

We all had a fun time at the Zoo, but by the end of the day

we look like we were all ready for a good nap!