Homemade gifts are more fun for the home maker of the home made gift

Over the years we have started to resort more to homemade gifts. This is do to many things ranging from lack of diñero to the increase in creativity and talents in our home...but mostly the money thing.






Anyways, this increase in homemade gifts has shown me that the giver/maker of the homemade gift gets as much, if not more, enjoyment from creating the gift than the receiver gets from the receiving. Take last night's gift making session for Jackson's teacher. It got crazy up in here!





Much fun was had...maybe even more fun than Mrs. Yardley had with her Christmas ornament. Aimee even got in on the action with a pendant necklace for the well deserving kindergarten teacher but I can't post those pics due to her new hobby of hand crafting in the buff. Like I said, more fun in the making than in the receiving of a homemade gift. Like all good things, it had to come to an end which means a long clean up



I need to find a craft that I'm good at. Maybe next year everyone can expect to receive a hand carved ice sculpture from me and of me. Shipping may be an issue. Merry Christmas from the ice prince.

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27 weeks and Thanksgiving

Yep I'm putting these two posts together. It just seemed like more work to split them up :). I promised my sister I would post a pic every month so I am a bit behind. Here I am, 27 weeks. I had an ultra sound last week and both babes were 2lbs 1oz and healthy. They are growing and so am I. My goal for the next few weeks is to be more positive about pregnancy. I am not a good pregnant person. I'm sick (yes still), can't breath, can't sleep, can't exercise, can't cuddle my kids, ask Tyler nearly every day if he still thinks I'm cute (he's smart and always answers yes). I just plain hate being pregnant. But I am very grateful for these little ones and know it's not forever. So I'm going to TRY to have a better attitude :)Moving on to much cuter people.

Thanksgiving was awesome. We were fortunate to spend it with friends we haven't seen in months. We spent the first 2 days of break with some friends in Illinios (which i didn't get pics of). Then we made the rest of the trek to Ohio to see the Warners and Millers. Well worth the drive.
We missed these cute faces.

And I know J missed being surrounded by all girls.

And I certainly missed these 2 faces.

Thanks for the fun relaxing week. The kids played so well together we hardly had to do much. They even all slept in one room. It was fun to hear them giggle as they tried to go to sleep, and of course O was always the last one asleep. Thanks for the good food, laughs and late nights. We can't wait to see you again.

This first born of ours

The other night I tickled this little boys face to sleep (i love that he still lets me do that). And I started thinking what a special little boy he is. There is something special about your first born, something that maybe only a mom and dad can see. I see it in J everyday.

I feel like he has grown up so fast since he started Kindergarten---which I love and hate all at the same time. His reading and writing skills make me smile. He was never one to sit and create things but now he wants to do it all the time. He wrote this book the other day in church (of course it was about avatar). Here are one of my favorite pages. It made me laugh.
If you can't see it, it says---
"But Momo wanted to flush himself down the toilet".
"I will flush me down the toilet".

I love that he wants to sleep in nothing but his cute little boy underwear.
I love that he thinks it's cool to slick your hair back.

I love that he'd rather have shrimp, crab and mushrooms over any other food.
I love that if we're making anything with cheese (cheese chips, cheese eggs) he always asks if he can do the "cheesening". I now am starting to use it like a real word.
I love that he wants to make costumes out of paper (which really doesn't work). This is his bat costume.

I love that he lets his sister in on everything he does. They really have such a special bond, and always have.
I love that he has figured out how to let O do everything for him :). Put his dishes in the sink, get him a drink, fetch the remote (as i write this O is letting me know that J wants a cookie). She's happy to do favors for him.

Most of all I love that he's ours. I truly feel that Heavenly Father sent him to us first for a reason. He's such a good big brother and I know he'll love these new babies. He has such a tender heart.
We love you J!

31 and awesome

Need I say more?
I remember one of the first times I went to Tyler's house was on his 18th birthday---wow we've known each other a long time.
I am truly grateful.
Happy Birthday to my wonderful hubby.

Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Or happy late Halloween
Halloween was full of parties, trunk or treats, YMCA carnival, sugar highs and late nights.
It was fabulous.


AVATAR---the last air bender. He has some sweet air bending skills.

Butterfly/fairy/princess
Isn't she beautiful

Halloween dinner
Broccoli cheese soup in bread bowls---mmm comfort food.

Hope your Halloween was fun
Now onto Thanksgiving!

20 weeks

I really am against posting any prego pics of me but with being so far away from family and friends I guess it must be done. So for those of you that have been requesting, this is for you :) Enjoy these pictures taken by the J-man.

Now honestly I have almost doubled in size over the past couple weeks. I am not making this up, even Tyler agrees. I feel large---winded going up steps, hard time bending over, wanting to live in sweats.

Now just to give you a better idea this picture below is when I was pregnant with O, only about a week before I delivered. I seriously am not that far off from this size. Wow it's going to be a long uncomfortable 4 months. I guess I am grateful these little ones are growing. So far all is looking good with the babies. The shock has worn off and were pretty excited.

Little miss O

Do you ever wish your bum was cute enough to feel comfortable playing on the ground pushing a tractor around?---I do.
O is ready to take on the challenge of twins. Although she is an over achiever and is conquering triplets (i would die).

It Was The Shock of Our Lives!

Friday we went in for our routine ultra sound to find out the sex of our baby. You can imagine our reaction when the ultra sound tech looked at us and asked us if we knew there were 2 in there? Um what now? I looked at Tyler who looked like he may pass out and I felt like I may throw up right there on the bed. Jackson said "awesome" and Olivia doesn't even know what's coming her way. My mom is in town and was able to witness this crazy moment---I just remember her cheering and clapping her hands, oh Grandmas.
There have been tears, laughs, happiness, fear, disbelief and more tears over the past 24 hours. Seriously can I handle twins!?! I honestly think Heavenly Father knew I couldn't go through pregnancy again :). But we are very excited and grateful. Now that we know there are 2 little ones so many things are coming together---the ridiculous sickness, my already large tummy, already feeling like I have no room in there after each meal, and Tyler always feeling like this pregnancy was twins. Next Monday I'll meet with my doctor so I should have some more details about these little ones.

Two little heads.
One little baby girl.

And one little baby boy. Yep that's right a girl and a boy.

I never thought I would ever be having twins, I have many moments throughout the day where I'm still in disbelief. But then there's those moments where I'm so very excited.
If your wondering if I'm done having kids----you bet I am :)

The boys are off to school

Let me just start off by saying if you thought I was a horrible blogger before, I don't think being pregnant is going to help my cause. Why does pregnancy have to be so difficult---aren't we suppose to be having these babies!?! But things are starting to feel a bit better. Come March I'll feel like a million bucks. Alright enough venting, on to the good stuff.


My baby boy started Kindergarten. Yes he will forever be my baby boy and I'm sure to remind him of that. Now having your first go to Kindergarten is hard enough but when you live in a state where it's ALL DAY it's even worse. I've been gearing J and I up for all day Kindergarten for months. So far he is loving it and the most difficult part is getting him up in the mornings.
He looks way to big.Now Odee on the other hand is not happy about J (or daddy) going to school. She cries every day when he leaves or holds on to him and says "my jackson". It really is heartbreaking.

Last weekend was Tyler's white coat ceremony. This is where all the first year med students get their white coat. It was an exciting day and one we've been looking forward to. Now Ty has to go to school all day and as the weeks go by he'll be gone nights as well. We were very spoiled having daddy to ourselves for almost 3 months. It was awesome.

The biomed crew.

Ty's parents came in for the weekend. We love visitors and were very happy they came to celebrate this day with us. Thanks Smith's for taking care of us through the weekend.

So now Odee and I are left to entertain ourselves---
good thing she's pretty entertaining.

Booyeah!

Jackson became a man today. He took that step that will allow him to truly enjoy life, live life, impress girls, and get into heaven. We are what you might call the proudest parents around. It's kind of a big deal....if you like bikes that is. I kinda like bikes so I'm given him props. We've been practicing ever since we got back from Utah whenever the humidity didn't make it impossible for Jackson to hold onto the handle bars due to the gallons of sweat that were pouring from my head. Running behind a bike all hunched over holding onto the seat is hard enough without 100 degree weather and 100% humidity but I made the sacrifice. Yeah, I'm a pretty awesome dad. Anyways, so proud of the J-Man.



Olivia was in on the action and will soon be well on her way to riding her own 2 wheeler.



It was hot and the red faces and sweaty heads were earned the best way possible...under a bike helmet. Now let's just hope they don't become one of those weird dudes that ride unicycles.

Travel Log Summer 2010

Miles Driven: 5,602
States Visited/Passed Through: 8
Potty Breaks: 2.8 million
Dogs Successfully Snuck In and Out of a Hotel Under a Blanket (don't judge us): 1
Nights Spent in a Tent: 9
Persons Successfully Impregnated: 1 (in case you didn't know)
Vomit Breaks (in the car and on the boat): too many for any one person...poor Aimee

Road trips rule but it's also good to be home. I did the math so now Aimee will now have the huge task of putting pics up and filling in the details...

Go ahead and VOTE

My darling neice is trying out to be a Utah Jazz dancer.

She has made the top 30.

So if you have a spare minute follow this link below and vote for her.

She is the first picture---her name is Samantha.

Thanks!!!

http://www.nba.com/jazz/dance/1011_dancer_vote_now.html

ps--i know i'm a horrible blogger. we've been out of town so as soon as were home i'll be back in business.

Cozy little porch swing

My thoughtful husband got me a porch swing for my birthday.
I have been talking about getting one since we moved here---I love it. First the boys painted it. Then Tyler put it together and hung it.
And now we swing---all the time.

The kids love it. We eat breakfast on it and popsicles.
And watch for cardinals.
And O loves to give her brother "under doggies"--although she calls them "under puppies" since doggie isn't in her vocabulary.

Being 5 is Delicious

Happy Birthday to our little boy who is slowly becoming our little man. You are the best big brother a bossy little sister could ask for and you make your mom and dad laugh with your funny little comments using a new word you learned regardless of whether or not you know how to use it. We love you J-man and hope the scootering to the farmers market for a cinnamon roll, swimming your guts out all day, shrimp and corn on the cob dinner and brownie dessert (a day full of favorites) made 5 more awesome than 4.

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My Friend Greg

This is my friend Greg Price and this is just how it is with him, you see him and you want to be friends with him. These goats climbed right into his cart while we were golfing 2 weeks ago and I'm sure it was because they knew, just like the rest of us who know him know, that he is the most genuine, kind person you will ever meet. We have been able to get to know Greg and his family during our time here in Missouri but funny thing is, Greg went to the same High School as Aimee and I and he was only a grade behind us....small world. Greg's little boy Scott is one of Jackson's best friends and he and I just finished coaching their soccer team to what we would call a winning season! Greg is one of the most naturally athletic people I have ever met and kicked my trash all over the golf course. Why am I telling you about Greg? Because he was diagnosed today with a brain tumor and will be undergoing surgery this Monday to remove the tumor and you can help Greg and his family. Greg was sent to another hospital about an hour and half from where we all live so his family will be living out of hotel for the next little while and on top of these costs, the medical bills will be accumulating quickly. As students it is hard enough to survive without incidents like these so take a minute and click on the link to the right and donate anything you can and help my friend Greg.

He did it!

Congratulations Tyler!
Last weekend Tyler walked at commencement with a degree of
Master of Science in Biomedical Research.
I was so proud of him. He worked so hard and spent
MANY hours up in the lab doing experiments and writing a thesis.
We loved having Ty's parents in town.
We spent a day in Nauvoo and played around the house.
Thank you for coming out, Olivia is still asking where you are. One Masters down one medical degree to go.
Happy Graduation!

30 has never been so awesome!

Happy birthday to my amazing wife! You make 30 more awesome than I did (and that's pretty hard to do). Here's to 300 yrs more! Much love....to my baby.

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