cracking peanuts 12-01-06

Growing up my family always made lots of candy and gave out 90% of it to those around us. Which is a tradition I would love to pass on to my family. This year the girls wanted to help me crack the nuts. Brianna wanted to crack the nuts to help but Paige wanted to crack the nuts for a different reason. She loves nuts!!:) We had a lot of fun and this took us a couple of hours to accomplish.

decortating the tree 11-27-06

This year we had fun decorating our tree. It is always a challenge decorating in a new place because its hard to find a place that will work and look good. We first had it in front of the window and decided that it would get in the way with the girls running around. The tree looks a lot smaller in the house (in our apartment it was just the right size). We thought about getting a bigger one after Christmas but decided that we didn't need to spend our money on that right now. Our tree sure did get full as December went on. It was a lot of fun to spend it at home and see our decorations for more then two weeks. This year we were able to do some service for those around us and the girls loved being sneaky and leaving presents on peoples doors and running or hiding. Going to the elderly and wishing them a Merry Christmas and giving them some goodies. We really were able to enjoy the giving season and for this I'm thankful.

Family Birthday 11-25-06

On Saturday we opened presents from the family. Brianna's birthday isn't until the 26th but mom and dad were leaving on Sunday after Sacrament. Plus the power went out for over an hour so it gave us all lots of down time. Brianna loved everything that she got. She has played with, worn and read everything that she got. Paige has too!!! Bri does a good job sharing with her sister. Probably her favorite thing she got was the roller skates from Paige. She didn't want to take them off for days. She told Paige that when she gets bigger ones that Paige could have the ones she got for her birthday. Paige just thinks that Brianna is cool!
Later to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa took us all to the movie. The girls saw Happy feet (really cute by the way) and the boys went and saw The CasinoRoyale (which both really enjoyed). Grandma even got the girls popcorn- which mom and dad never do. This made
Brianna feel very special. Thanks mom and dad!!

Grandpa

I thought that this picture turned out really cute. Dad doesn't like his picture taken so I was surprised when I was able to get this one.

Thanksgiving Day 11-23-06

Mom and dad were able to come and spend time with us for Thanksgiving and Brianna's birthday. We enjoyed the time with them! Dinner was good but as a mom it's hard to enjoy it. There is always something your kids need. Paige decided that after getting her all dished up that she wanted to take a nap. Brianna is a picky eatter and only wanted the jello that grandma made. By the time I was able to get to my food it was cold and dad was done with his food and was ready to watch football. I told mom that I'm not convinced that it's worth all of the work and preperation.



Brianna had been praying that she would have snow for her birthday for about a month and on Thanksgiving it snowed. After Shane got home from work he decided it was the last time that he would be able to get the leaves off off of the grass before it started snowing. Brianna was thrilled with the chance to go out and play in the snow with her dad out their.

The Joys of Two Year olds 11-20-06

I was down stairs with the girls getting it ready for mom and dad to arrive for Thanksgiving and then I realized that Paige wasn't with me any more. I walked upstairs and found that Paige had gotten the chair over to the fridge and grabbed the dry eraser and decided that it would be fun to make some pretty pictures for mom. To say the least I was not pleased with her pictures! After she went into timeout she got the opportunity to clean it all up. Then we three went back down stairs and finished cleaning. Then I noticed it was time to go make lunch because Brianna had to leave for school in a few minutes. Once I walked upstairs I could smell a smell that no mom wants to smell - Permanent Marker!! Yes- Paige had found the markers that were hidden in the back of the junk drawer which she is to short to even see into. I still don't know how she was able to get them. The smell was not the only present she gave. She had decided that it was fun to draw on the wall, fridge, stove, dishwasher, table, door and cabinets. I was very , very upset! The only thing that kept me from giving her a spanking that she would never forget was that I had to take Brianna to school. Latter I was proud of myself for not loosing my temper. Every time I walked into the kitchen I would get mad. I spent a good couple of hours trying to get it off. I did have some luck. Later when Shane got home Paige showed daddy what she had done. Shane asked if it was a good choice or bad choice. She said BAD Choice. He asked what she should draw on and she said paper. All of the right answers. After all of us girls had gone to bed - Shane stayed up to try to get it off. He did get 98% of it off. He didn't get to bed until 3:00am. Brake cleaner did the job. I was thrilled with how it looked.

Bri's Birthday Party 11-18-06

This year Brianna had a combined birthday party with her best friend. Their birthdays are less then a week apart and at this time of year is hard to fit everything in. The girls were very excited that they could have a party together (the mom's were too!!). Brianna thought that I did a good job on the decorations and loved having friends over.