Family Pictures!

In Utah we had our pictures taken by Tom's cousin Krystal. She is a budding photographer so I was happy to take advantage of her desire to practice on people. She did a great job but was busy having a baby so it took a little while to get the editing done (completely understandable). I wanted to share them with you because they are SO cute-if I do say so myself. One of the family pictures is at the top. These are all from the same photo shoot.

The girls!

My handsome boys

Flashback Friday: 2 Weddings, A Funeral...and I Robot

This is a record of the sickest I have ever been in my entire life. My husbands great-Grandma passed away in 2002. She was 101 and had lived an extraordinary life. Tom and I had been married just over a year and I was pregnant with Samantha...and sick as a dog. We drove a long way for her funeral and after the service had a big family dinner.

Then I went to my cousins wedding reception

Then I went to my friends wedding reception.

Then, because I'm obviously an idiot, I decided I wanted to go see a movie. I Robot.

I made it about halfway through the previews before I lost it all in the theatre bathroom. Plus I had a terrible migraine at that point. So I left the movie, went home, threw up all night, called the nurses hotline in the morning who hooked me up with my doctor to give me fenegran which made me sleep for 4 hours straight and then went to get a smoothie from Los Hermanos because that's all that sounded good. I had learned my lesson.

Tom and I at the funeral-do we look young or what?

Looking back, we all look very happy for these pictures, at a funeral. But she was 101 and you just smile for pictures no matter what.

Oh yeah...Tommy!

I do have a son, despite all the blog posts being about my darling daughters. Tommy's darling too-in a destructive, drive me nuts, I'm going to lock him in his room until he's 3 sort of way. You must understand-I think Tommy is the cutest little boy on the planet earth and all other planets. I'm already plotting ways to get rid of his high school girlfriends who will no doubt be flocking to the house because of his adorableness. It's just...he's such a rotten energetic child right now. Here's the short list (all happened so far this week):

He flattens Eliza to the ground whenever I'm not looking

Colors on the walls, furniture, toys, himself, etc.

Takes every single thing Samantha is playing with just to annoy her

Won't take naps

Won't fall asleep at night time

Wakes up before 6:00 every day

Gets into the scrapbookings supplies, desk stuff, games, whatever new thing that I haven't anticipated him getting into and then gets into it and spreading it all through the house

Lets the dog in the house

Pulls all his clothes out of his dresser

Pulls all the books off the shelves

Pulls clothes off hangers

Dumps whatever can be dumped: Trashcans, toy bins, whatever

Takes all the cushions off the couches

Got into the desitin(!)-I don't know how-and squeezed it all over his carpet

etc. etc. etc

And that's just the average boy stuff-whatever I can't anticipate and can't imagine-he does that too. I'm sure though, I just HAVE to make it through his terrible two-ness. There's no alternative right?

Day (Week) Late, Dollar Short

In all of Eliza's birthday news I didn't post the obligatory back to school photo. Samantha is heading into her 433902834 year of preschool (okay-it's just her third and the first one was a co-op thing that I helped teach) but still. She is kind of devastated about kindergarten because ALL her friends, cousins, aunts, etc. are starting this year and she feels kind of left out. She was thrilled to go though and as long as we don't mention the "K" word she's happy with life!

And you know, Tommy can't let Samantha pose by herself.

Eliza's 1st Birthday!

Eliza is officially one years old! I can't believe it. Her birthday this year was 9-9-09, which I thought was cool. We didn't do too much for her specifically until the evening. I made her an Elmo cake, she scored with presents, and her favorite part was devouring the cake (of course!) Happy Birthday to my baby (or not baby) girl!

Do you like the shirt? What a dumb purchase but I just wanted to so unreasonably much. Maybe I'll have another girl someday so it can get two uses instead of just one.

The Elmo Cake!!!! TA-DUM. Didn't I (Tom) do a good job?

Yes, she likes that cake. Happy Birthday Eliza.

Tag for Swag

1. If you could escape to anywhere in the world where would it be? I want to go on a cruise to anywhere with beaches (with my husband)
> 2. What song do you play when you are by yourself in the car? Bittersweet Symphony by the Verve
> 3. If you had a night to yourself, and money was no object, what would you do? I would use my Cricut and get to scrapbooking. I'm only 15 months behind-I can still do it.
> 4. What is your guilty pleasure? Brownie Sundaes
> 5. What is the farthest place you have traveled away from your home? I think to Banff in Canada.
> 6. Last book that you couldn't put down? Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr
> 7. When you want to escape into another time, what movie do you watch? White Christmas-during the holidays obviously
> 8. What is your favorite local escape? The city pool
> 9. How do you escape on a budget? You get together with friends for food and some girl bonding time. (And scrap booking - with your Cricut of course!)
> Best food you've ever had while on vacation. We were in Mexico for our honeymoon and we went off the beaten path to this little dive in downtown. It had the. best. Mexican. food you have ever tasted.

How can this be?!?

My beautiful BABY is turning 1 tomorrow!! It's just not fair. Notwithstanding her crying from 8-11 PM the first four months of her life I wish Eliza could just relive her first year. She is such a joyful and sweet baby. I love her so, so much. Here are some of the pictures chronicling her first year of life. It also makes me realize-one more time-what a failure I am in the picture department to my sweet girl. Oh well, I love her to pieces anyway.

100th Post

I'm still relatively new to the blogging sphere so I am just NOW celebrating my 100th post! Woo-hoo! And because I've basically always done whatever the trendy thing is in blogging (buttons on the sidebar-check, tags-do them all, coupon posts-bring them on, funny kids quotes-oh yeah) then I will do 100 things about me!

100. My top five favorite movies are: Big Fish, Princess Bride, Kill Bill (only saw the edited version on Cleanflicks), What Dreams May Come, Empire Records

99. I still really miss Virginia, yet I feel embarrassed admitting that and I don't know why

98. I am crazy about memory preservation. I scrapbook, journal, blog, make a kids scrapbook, do detailed baby books, etc.

97. I don't like restaurant Italian food, mine is better so I'd rather spend the money on other stuff like Mexican, Chinese, "American" etc.

96. I don't have a favorite book but I always say "The Giver" by Lois Lowry because it's easier to just have a prepared answer

95. If I have a choice between spending money on something tangible and spending money on something fun to do-I will almost always choose the activity

94. My three most recent church callings have been Young Women 1st Counselor, RS teacher, and Nursery worker

93. RS teacher calling (above) was for exactly one lesson

92. Speaking of church, I love to give talks-crazy, I know. I think I like the compliments afterwards (assuming I'm complimented)

91. I was Prom Princess

90. I really want to serve a mission someday

89. Every year in September I'm desperately jealous of students going back to school.

88. The shows I watch are Chuck, Bones, Survivor, So you think you can dance, Dancing with the Stars, Psych, Burn Notice, Lost, and The Office

87. The people I think about the most are the ones that got under my skin the most

86. My favorite color is yellow-but my real favorite color is whatever I see that is in a pretty shade.

85. My favorite food is probably pizza

84. My favorite dessert is most definitely brownie sundaes

83. I have 4 siblings, 3 sisters 1 brother.

82. The stores that I spend the most at each month are Walmart and Home Depot

81. I think I'm a tiny bit addicted to the internet.

80. I scrapbook -but I don't like to do it in a group because I feel like mine aren't as good as the other peoples, but when I do it by myself then I really like what I do.

79. I always end up doing the things I swear I won't (not sinful stuff) but like couponing and mom stuff like that.

78. I love it when it rains and you wake up kind of shivery under your covers

77. I'm compulsive about shutting cupboard doors and shower curtains.

76. The smartest thing I ever did was marry Tom-hands down.

75. I took the LSAT and got a good score, 161, on it.

74. What I really want to be when I grow up is a nurse but I don't think it will ever happen.

73. I want to be a librarian almost as much and I do think that's possible.

72. I hate HOA's-and not for any personal reason, I just hate them.

71. I think three good characteristics about me are that I'm friendly, that I really feel compassion/empathy for people, and that I'm by and large-organized

70. I think three not-so-good characteristics about me are that I'm kind of a loud mouth, I over-think things too much, and that I'm a social over-eater

69. I'm VERY conservative ideologically, except when it comes to immigration

68. I'm working on reading all the Newbery Winners ever written, I'm about 14 away from my goal

67. I have read all the Caldecott Winners

65. I am between 10 to 15 pounds over my pre-baby weight (depending on the day)

64. I took 6 AP tests in high school: American History, Macro Economics, Micro Economics, Government, Literature, and Spanish. In that order I got a 5, 3, 4, 4, and...

63. I failed the Spanish AP test with a 2-I cried all day long when I found out

62. My lowest grade in college was a tie with 2 C- grades, one was in Economics (funny how I passed those AP tests-huh) and the other was in New Testament!

61. I LOVE to find little out-of-the way places (often they're dives) to eat at-they are where the best foods at.

60. Which is why I loved Amorys (not a dive) in VA and Pedro's (yes a dive) here.

59. I went on my honeymoon to Puerto Vallarta Mexico

58. I've been married 6 years 2 months and 16 days

57. In the 5 years I lived in Provo I lived on campus for 4 of them and worked in 4 different capacities (but all 5 years) for housing itself.

56. I met Tom on a blind date, set up by his Aunt-a lady in my home Stake

55. I love the city I live in, I love it's name and I love the classes/parties/activities it has available to it's residents

54. I only looked at two houses before I made the decision to offer on this one-VA wasn't much better-we only looked at 4 houses total.

53. I have three kids and each one was born in a different state: Samantha-UT, Tommy-VA, and Eliza-AZ

52. I consider one of my greatest accomplishments in this life to be nursing my third child

51. I am NOT outdoorsy and NOT athletic. I always think it's amazing when people even say they are because it's so outside of my realm

50. My favorite part of the summer-time (outside of AZ where it's impossible) is sitting on grass in the evening.

49. I do NOT, NOT, NOT like onions. No matter what people tell me or get me to try-I do NOT like onions

48. I majored and graduated in American Studies from BYU

47. I've been to Canada once and want to go back to Lake Moraine and Banff

46. The states I've been to (actually visited) are Massachusetts, New York, California, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Nevada, Montana, and Washington

45. I have a dog named Ruffie.

44. I can almost do a front dive off a diving board, I can do one on the trampoline

43. I currently own two houses. The one in VA has renters

42. I didn't get my drivers license until I was 19 years old.

41. I don't really know my right from my left. I hold out my hands and see which pointer and thumb form an "L"

40. I prefer Domino's pizza over any other kind

39. I've sung two solo's before and both times I failed miserably-they are among my most embarrassing moments.

38. I'm the oldest in my family.

37. I have over 60 cousins on my mom's side of the family. I am number 34.

36. I chose my oldest girls name (Samantha) when I was five years old. I have documentation showing that I loved that name. I got it from the American Girl Doll Samantha

35. I will go on any roller-coaster. No matter how much it scares me.

34. I have been swimming with dolphins, horse-back riding in the Sierra Madres, and been to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY

33. I am a MAC (not a PC)

32. I own a cricut (though Tom knows how to use it better than I do)

31. My favorite chore is really and truly to clean a bathroom. I hate laundry and vacuuming.

30. The most 1950's thing I do for Tom is to make his lunch for him every day.

29. I've driven to California 8 times since moving to Arizona

28. I have 4 nieces and 2 nephews. Only one of those (niece) is on my side

27. My favorite department store to shop at is Kohls.

26. I've lived in a hotel for a month-twice

25. I've never seen a James Bond movie

24. If I could be on ANY reality show-it would be Dancing with the Stars, too bad I'm not a star

23. I took over 6 years of piano lessons and 5 years of violin. I can only pick out simple stuff on the piano and I don't think I could play a note on the violin

22. I LOVE children's books. I have several that I bought/Tom gave to me before I even had kids.

21. I love to get rid of things. If I can donate, sell, or just throw away something it probably gives me more pleasure than owning it ever did.

20. My most inner fear is that of rejection-an outward fear is that of bees.

19. I hate going grocery shopping, and it's not the kid thing-I hate going by myself too.

18. I love all kinds of music. When it used to be popular for people to have music on their blogs (and some still do) I would go and listen to all their songs.

17. I am currently re-reading the Harry Potter Series. When I am done I will have re-read any given book 2-5 times.

16. I've moved 3 1/2 times (so lived in 4 different house plus a hotel) in the last 15 months.

15. I drive a mini-van (Chrysler Town and Country) and Tom drives a 1995 Toyota Camry

14. I love almost all the Pixar movies. I can't pick a favorite but the top three are Finding Nemo, CARS, and Meet the Robinsons (oh-and I love Ratatouille) but I really don't like Bugs Life

13. My favorite Disney movie is Mulan (but favorite princess is Aurora)

12. My favorite type of food is Mexican.

11. I was born in Utah but lived in California from the time I was 2 until 18 and moved away to college to go back to Utah

10. My clearest childhood memories are of fighting with Erin. We love each other now though.

9. I've only been in two play productions. I was an Indian and the narrator in Peter Pan in 8th Grade. I was one of 5 foolish virgins in a play about the biblical 10 virgins in Virginia

8. I wasn't ever able to decide very well on electives in high school. In four years I took Orchestra 1 year, ASB three years, dance one year, and choir another. I also did summer sessions in swim, volleyball, and theatre.

7. It took me three days of coming back to this to think of 100 things about me.

6. In the past year after having Eliza I have tried 30 day shred, Prevention magazines flat belly diet, training for a 5K, Wii Fit, and calorie count.com to lose weight....Um, I've been unsuccessful.

5. I don't keep my inbox empty but I won't let it go over 50 emails (I don't want there to be more than one page)

4. I organize my closets by sleeve length-but not by color

3. I really love to have people over and throw parties. I think I'm struggling with that especially right now because I can't think of anyone to invite for Eliza's party and we have no close family to invite.

2. Now don't go thinking I don't love my children to pieces because I do, but I don't really like kids-you know what I mean. I mean that I wouldn't ever want to be a teacher or day care provider, I just don't like kids that much.

1. As much as I feel guilty and embarrassed at the narcissism of doing these kind of things, I still just want people to read them and like them :)

That's me!

Flashback Friday

This is only from a couple of months ago but I never found a way to work it onto my blog. Aren't they adorable?!?

Craft Giveaway Reprise

Do you remember a long time ago when I posted a craft giveaway/chain letter kind of thing? I signed up for two of them (from Amy and Monica). Well, I did it and Heidi, Krista, Katie, Mom, and Alison got some homemade cards. But I still owe a whole new set of crafty gifts. So check out the cute things I received and then read the rules and see if you want to join in on the fun (and I have had a ton of fun)!

Thank you Monica for the scrapbook pages!

I've already used one.

Thank you Amy for the purse! I'm trying to convince Samantha that it's not for her. We shall see.

Lucky you!

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!

2. What I create will be just for you.

3. It’ll be done this year. (I won't take the whole year...don't worry)

4. You have no clue what it’s going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry or maybe even some creation I haven’t even invented yet. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that’s for sure!

5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!

* * *Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!