"Merry Christmas to all..."

Well, it's pretty obvious I have slacked this holiday season on my blog. However, we have been busy with holiday preparations. And, I am proud to say, I have been done shopping and wrapping for almost a week. It is nice to enjoy that last few weeks before Christmas without being rushed. Hopefully after the New Year I will be better about updating the blog.
I have two kids calling for me (ok, who am I kidding, crying at me) so I better end.

From our house to yours,

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Silence + Payton = Mischief

I was on the phone this morning with my Dad and realized it was quiet in the house-- too quiet. I peeked into Payton's room and this is what I saw:

All I want for Christmas is...

You guessed it... my two front teeth!

Sydney lost her first two teeth yesterday. Actually, the dentist had to pull her two front bottom teeth because the adult teeth are already starting to come in. She was very brave and even excited to have the dentist pull her teeth. She did great. Just before she went to bed she asked me about the Tooth Fairy. She was really worried. She wanted to make sure that she would not see the Tooth Fairy. She was worried about the Tooth Fairy being a Vampire. (Oops, probably my fault for talking about Twilight in her hearing)Anyway, to comfort her, we put her teeth in a little box on her dresser instead of under her pillow and I told her that the Tooth Fairy is probably Tinker Bell's cousin. Was that bad of me? Anyway, she felt much better and went to sleep happy. She woke up before 6am because she was so excited. The Tooth Fairy left her 40 cents. (She says $40.) I have heard that our Tooth Fairy is outdated and needs to account for inflation. I guess our Tooth Fairy owes Syd more money. But, since this is our Tooth Fairy's first time, we can't blame her!

Just because...

This morning while getting ready for the day it hit me just how adorable my girls are. Even though we were running a couple minutes late, I had to take a moment and snap a few pictures. I know I'm bias, but I think I have two of the cutest girls ever!

Giddy up, Cowgirl!

I bought this hat a few years ago as a joke for Brian to wear to work on Halloween. (He didn't wear it.) Sydney found it and claimed it for her dress-up box. Payton recently found it and loves it. She puts it on, smashes it up and even stands in it.

Lost & Found

To all my workout pals: I found the missing hair bow! It was in Payton's onesie all the way down by her diaper. How does that happen? Anyway, I appreciate your help scouring the gym. Enjoy your day. Hope you're not in too much pain!!

Dayna, aka....

I saw this on my friend Camille's blog and thought it was fun.

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) Sam Intrigue
2. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR'S NAME: ("The" + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”) The Scrap Sun
3. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Lemon Macadamia
4. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) D-Hil
5. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Green Zero (I am not an animal fan)
6. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Zilch Rexburg (zilch meaning I don't have one)
7. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) Hilda (hey, that didn't work! That's just old fashioned!)
8. SUPERHERO NAME: ("The" + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink) The Navy Zero
9. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) Cornelis Boyd
10. STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy) Flirty Skor (Wow, that's scary)
11. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) Kay Nil (nil meaning he doesn't have one)
12. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter) Barger Boise
13. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower) Fall Daisy
14. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”) Kiwie Clipie
15. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree) Energy Bar Maple (usually I have granola, so Granola Maple, that is a true tree hugger name!)

I tag my sisters and my sisters-in law.

'Flour' Power!

It's official, Payton is now a get-into-everything-toddler! I was making sugar cookie dough last night in preparation for FHE and didn't realize I had a helper. She is so sneaky and quiet when in mischief. I had forgotten about that in past 4 years! I think she was proud of herself.

I think I forgot something...

Oh yeah, a bib!

Doesn't the bib look nice and clean? Too bad the child doesn't! Oh, well at least kids and their clothes wash!

Quirkity-Quirk-Quirk

So, I was tagged by my cousin Amber to list 6 quirks. I read her list and my other cousin Jessica's list and I think I have all of their quirks plus some of my own.
1. I am a bookworm: Once I start a book I physically cannot put it down until I am finished. Worse, if I start a series of books I cannot stop until I finish the series.
2. I hate when my rugs are crooked. I have to straighten them.
3. I can't handle it when my kids have runny noses. I have to wipe them before they get crusty.
4. I have to sleep on my left side. I cannot sleep any other way.
5. Also when I sleep, I have to have the blanket over my ears, but not over my face or I get claustrophobic.
6.I type everything. I type lists, letters, lessons, talks, you name it. I don't know why, but I don't feel "finished" until I type up my projects.
These are my quirks, what are yours? I tag my sisters, sister-in-laws and exercise group!

Our baby's growing up!

...And don't anyone say it's time for another one! So, Payton has seemed to grow up so much, so quickly just in the past month since her birthday. She doesn't consistently walk, but I am OK with that. I just don't remember Sydney growing up quite so quickly! Anyway, here are some pictures of our 'big girl'!

I'm irreverent!

This may not be funny to anyone else, but I was literally in tears during Sydney's prayer this evening. I tried so hard not to laugh out loud, but I honestly could not help it! Here's what happened: Syd was saying her bedtime prayers and Brian and I were kneeling with her by her bed. She said the normal stuff and then said, "Please bless us to eat something good like raspberries for breakfast tomorrow. Raspberries are berries and are good for you...." Then she continued on with her prayer, but I missed the rest of it. See, earlier this afternoon a very nice lady in our ward brought us a large container of fresh raspberries. I told Sydney she could have some for breakfast. Ever since school started she has been in 'explanation mode.' She explains everything to us, step by step. It just struck me as funny that she was explaining raspberries to Heavenly Father. Before Brian could say our family prayer I had to stop and compose myself for a few minutes. But, I didn't feel to bad because I could Brian was having a hard time too, but he didn't laugh during his daughter's prayer! At the end of Brian's prayer I was still having a hard time controlling myself so Brian prayed for "Mommy to be reverent!" That did it, I started laughing all over again. Some kind of example I am!

I'm a PTO mom!

I felt old when Syd started school, now I feel ancient! So, my friend is the Co-President in our school's PTO. I told her I'd love to help. It is sad, but only about 10 people showed up for the meeting the first week of school. So, needless to say, I am "helping" a lot more than I thought. I am the chairman of the fundraising committee. Right now I am also THE committee! Scary, but also exciting. We have generated a lot of fun ideas for fundraising, but if you have any suggestions, feel free to leave a comment! I'd love to hear what your schools are doing or what you'd like to see done at school. It is a lot of work, but I really like being involved with Sydney's school. Go Broncos!

School Days!

It is official... I am old! Sydney started kindergarten this year. School actually started on August 25th (26th for Kindergarten), but I have been horrible about blogging lately. Sorry! Anyway, school is going great. Syd loves her class, her teacher, recess and the bus ride home. She doesn't even notice that she is learning. Usually when I ask her what she learned in school, she says nothing, we just played. But, her reading is getting so much better. Yes, she is learning to read! When we read bedtime stories I will point out 3 and 4 letter words and she can sound them out. It is crazy!

I do have one cute story. I know, I share way too many of those! But, here it is: Syd came home from school last week and said they had learned about shapes. I figured she meant triangles, circles and squares; which she already knew. She surprised me by telling me about a hexagon, a rhombus and a parallelogram. She giggles every time she says those 'huge' words. It is so exciting to see her excited about learning!

I hope all of your school kids have teachers as wonderful as Mrs. Francis. She is awesome! Syd loved her the first time she met her.

P.S. The shirt Syd is wearing in the pictures below she calls her "mommy shirt". She thinks she looks like a mom in this shirt. Funny girl!

Jack Johnson in Concert!

Brian got tickets to go see Jack Johnson last Monday in SLC. We drove down Monday afternoon and got to the USANA Amphitheater at about 4:30. I thought that was pretty early-- the doors didn't even open until 5-- but I was wrong! There was already a line when we got there and when the doors opened I was glad we got our pick of seats. The concert didn't start until 7, so we had two hours of waiting, but it was fun (and interesting) to watch the strange array of people that attended the concert. There were two opening bands, one I liked, one I didn't. Jack didn't even play until almost 9pm. So, that gave people 4 hours to get really truly drunk. It was quite a sight! Then, when Jack did start performing, out came the drugs. I have no idea what people in the pit were smoking, but it definitely wasn't a cigarette. So sad! But, even with all the crazies, it was an amazing concert. We had a few songs that we really wanted to hear and we lucked out and got to hear all of our favorites. The concert lasted until 11pm. It was great! But, we made the mistake of doing the trip up and back in one day. Yeah, we'll never make that mistake again. We didn't get home until 3am. Next time we will get a hotel. It wasn't worth saving money, we were both so tired that we had to switch off driving. But, overall we had a great time! Hooray for Jack Johnson!

'Who Let The Dogs Out?'

Preface: We are dog sitting this summer for my parents while they put their yard in. Our dog's name is Toby and he is a Border Collie.

The Story: On Saturday morning at 5am we awoke to the sound of someone banging (I literally mean banging) on our front door. We jumped out of bed and Brian ran to answer the door. An Idaho Falls police officer was at our door. He said there had been complaints about our dog barking and bothering the neighbors. Brian said, "We haven't heard our dog bark at all tonight." The officer said it was Toby and it had to stop. Brian was furious. I think he was about to kick poor Toby out! I looked out the back window to see if Toby was barking and he was curled up sound asleep. I knew it wasn't Toby! I know his bark and he is not a yappy, barking dog. He is a really good dog. Anyway, Brian went outside to make sure Toby was quiet and he saw another dog in our yard. A stray dog had squeezed in through the fence, eaten all of Toby's food and then proceeded to bark up a storm all night. Coincidently, this stray mut was also black and white, just like our border collie. But, how do we apologize to the neighbors? "Hey, sorry about the barking, but it wasn't our dog it was another black and white dog that just happened to be in our fenced-in back yard." Yeah, right. That sounds unbelievable even to me-- even if it is the truth. Luckily, Brian scared that darn dog so bad that it has not been back. But, Brian did look at pellet guns at Wal-Mart on Saturday afternoon!

Hand in Glove FHE

Once again my wonderful friend Diantha comes to my rescue. Thanks for emailing me the FHE lessons. I am posting it so all can use it because eventually all of us and our children will experience the death of a family member or friend. Here it is. Hope it helps your family. My mom told Sydney the basics of this lesson the day of my great uncle's funeral and she has already "taught" Brian and I about it multiple times. I am impressed with how quickly she grasped the concept and put complete faith in it. Oh, if only we were all "as little children".

Hand in glove
Brief Description/Purpose: The familiar body/spirit glove object lesson, adapted for Primary children.
Objects Used/Preparation: a glove
Lesson:
Each of us are made up of two parts: a body and a spirit. You can see a body and feel it and it can move and talk and do all those wonderful things. You can't see a spirit, but it is also there. Can you see radio waves coming into your radio? Can you see music waves coming out of a piano? Instruct the children to blow into their hands--can they see the air? No, but we know all those things are there. This glove represents your body and my hand is your spirit. (Put the glove on the hand) Your body has to have a spirit inside, or it wouldn't be alive and able to move around. When it is time to die then the spirit leaves the body and goes back to be with God, who created our spirits. (Take off the glove) The body is not alive anymore, but the person that we know and love still exists but as a spirit. We can't see spirits, but we know they are there. The body stays right here on earth until it is time for the resurrection. What is that? It is when your spirit is joined again to your body. (Put the glove on again) After a person is resurrected, the spirit and body will always stay together and never be separated again! It is sad when people we love die, because it means that we won't see them for a long time. When Jesus was resurrected, he made it possible for us to be resurrected too. We know we will see our friends and family because Jesus
was resurrected.

Source: http://www.geocities.com/
Here is a link to a hand puppet to make
http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Friend/2006.htm/
friend%20september%202006.htm/sunday%20box%20%20you%20are%20
eternal.htm?fn=document-frameset.htm$f=templates$3.0

I'm Speechless!

Today the girls and I attended my great uncle's funeral. It was a celebration of his life because he is in a better place, out of pain and with his wife. Of course, it is sad for the children and family still here, but as members of the Church, we can see the joy and hope in this funeral. At the luncheon after the funeral, Sydney was with my grandma. (My dad's mother.) Out of my hearing, Sydney made this comment to my grandmother: "Grandma, it's about time we had a funeral for you. Maybe in the next couple weeks." What do you say to that? Luckily, my grandmother is a wonderful lady that thought Sydney's comment was funny. I thought I was going to die! (No pun intended.) To continue my mortification, grandma proceeded to tell everyone at the luncheon about her 'cute great-granddaughter's comment'. My mom had an incite about Sydney's comment. She said that Sydney is starting to figure out that getting old means dying and she knows that grandma is getting old. My mom also told me that it is time to have a family home evening about physical death and where our spirits go. She said she's seen an FHE using a hand in a glove to show the difference between the outer body and the spirit. Anyone have an FHE lesson like that? If so, please let me know. I'd love to get a copy from you.

Our Climber

Yesterday I was emptying the dishwasher. I turned my back for less than 30 seconds and when I turned around Payton was "helping" me empty the dishwasher.

What a great story...

This evening I was feeding Payton her dinner and noticed that my table cloth had red crayon scribbled on it. Trying not to be angry I asked Sydney what happened. This was my answer: "Well, I was coloring and then my crayon did something bad." Yeah, right. It was the Crazy Crayon. I can just see Sydney struggling to keep the red crayon from drawing on the table cloth. I explained that crayons do not do bad things on their own. Anyway, it was a great story! I have been laughing about the version in my head all evening!

The Look

This particular post is dedicated to our wonderful friends the Wallings. Recently, I read Diantha's post about Madison cutting Garrett's hair-- an experience we have not yet had. I told Sydney about the incident. She got a horrified look on her face and said, "Oh, no!" Thinking I had a good teaching opportunity I said, "Sydney, what are scissors for?" Sydney just looked at me like I was stupid and rolled her eyes at me. Then she said, "Mom,(imagine drawing out the word into two syllables)I know!" "Ok, but just tell me," I replied. Then I got THE LOOK. You know the one, it says, "I am humoring you because I think you are crazy and I am tired of this subject." So, in an equally humiliating voice Syd replies,"For paper, Mom." Yeah, she's five. I can't wait for 16. If THE LOOK is already this impressive, what will it be like in 11 years? Scary!!

Bear Lake

We had so much fun at the cabin. The girls were really good-- except Payton didn't sleep. The weather was great. On Thursday night Brian and Trevor surprised us and rode up with Adam. Sydney was so excited to see Daddy. It just wasn't a vacation without him. We got home Sunday afternoon and I was actually ready to be home. There's no bed like your own!

Dam Marathon Recap

So, the 5k was over a month ago and I am finally posting the pictures.

P.S. I don't know where my captions are! Sorry.

Random Thoughts for the Day

I have two completely random things to share with you all today.

First, I got in the shower (at noon) but, I did get a shower today! I love to get in the shower when I know both my girls are content (eating) and no one is crying. It was wonderful. I was thoroughly enjoying my nice warm shower. No screaming, no interruptions, it was my little piece of heaven for the day. Then I turned the water off. Immediately I hear screaming and knocking on the door. I opened the door, quickly grabbed a towel and headed into the dining where both girls were. First thing I saw: Syd under the table, hiding behind the table cloth saying, "I didn't do it." Yeah, probably not a good sign. Second thing I saw: Payton in her high chair with her head down, screaming bloody murder. Great. What a way to end my relaxing shower. So, I dripped water everywhere as I picked up Payton and calmed her down. I still don't know what happened. I think for once I am better off in the dark. All is well that ends well. No blood, no foul. Does that make me an insensitive mom?

Second, I have left over roast beef from Sunday dinner and I decided to make shredded beef taco salad for dinner tonight. I love the taco salad bowls made out of tortillas. Guess where I buy them? You'll never guess, I'll just tell you. ARCTIC CIRCLE! They give me strange looks every time I order just the shells, but they always sell them to me for 50 cents each! What a deal! What a dinner! I am challenging any of you that live in a town with an Arctic Circle (or similar restaurant) to order the taco salad shells just so you can get the crazy look from the teenager running the drive thru!

That's all I've got for now. But, having experienced my random thoughts, I bet you can't wait for more! HaHaHa!

P.S. I typed this one-handed because Payton is having an unhappy evening! Pure talent!

Who's Hot and Who's Not... Part 2

Ok, here are my picks (part 2)...

HOT

NOT: I can't stand Paris Hilton. That's all I'm going to say!
I tag: the same as part 1.