life in general

almost one

I can't believe she's almost one! 

Today I hauled all the kids into town to get Anna's portraits taken.  At first she was not into it.  We had a man photographer and even in my adult opinion, he was a little scary looking.  So I can just imagine what he looked like to a baby.  Anna had the "I'm scared" eyes in the first pose and kept walking to me for a hug.  Luckily I brought one of her babies (thought we might use it as a prop).  Once she had that in her hands she was ready to go. 

Can I also say just how cute it is to see a little girl squeeze, hug, and cuddle up with a baby doll?  I looove it.  Anna has two soft dolls she sleeps with at night.  One has a rattle somewhere inside so the boys call it the "crazy baby."

Anyways, I was very pleased with the portraits that came out.  All of them looked great, but I decided to go with these two.  (Grammers -- you need to put in your vote for which one you'd like to see appear in your mailbox.)

Following our adventures in the mall we went to the Container Store to pick up some goodies.  Knowing I was going to have all 3 kids with me I did all of my shopping online, printed it out, and was ready to zoom through the store and grab what I needed.  I just put everything away and I am feeling very organized tonight!

Tomorrow I need to do the last of Anna's birthday shopping and decide on a cake and what to have for dinner.  We always let the birthday kid choose so I'll have to pick one of her favorites -- eggo waffles or macaroni & cheese or pepperoni pizza?  Hmmm.  Whatever the choice, I'm just glad it's going to be an easy night on me.

scrap inspiration

Last night I scrapbooked.  Today I scrapbooked.  Wow, I can't believe I actually did a layout during daylight hours -- that hasn't happened in months and months.  But the very fact that I scrapped two days in a row is huge.  My pictures have been piling up, my desk was piling up with stuff, I wanted to scrap but I couldn't get to the bottom of the mess and too many other things were going on.  Remember the clutter I spoke of a while back?  Well I'm in the process of defeating it . . .there was a garage sale and now I have a few more organizational projects in the works.  I'll update on those in the upcoming weeks.

Back to the point . . . I scrapped and it feels so good to get something done.  A few weeks ago I attended a crop and got a major something done.  I put together a mini-album to hold all of our christmas card pictures for each year along with a small space to jot down the happenings of the year. I love it!  And all the pages are made and done so that each year I can just slap a photo in.  My friends laugh at me for some of my Bree tendencies, but I am very proud to say that this album is completed out to the year 2033!

supply list:  6x6 modern album by American Crafts, patterned paper is Blitzen line by Basic Grey, {} symbols are a fontwerks stamp (george font), number stamps are PSX, word stickers are by Making Memories, rub-on on the cover is also Basic Grey.

I also just finished reading Stacy Julian's book, The Big Picture, and I feel like a brand new woman again!  Stacy has this wonderful philosophy about scrapbooking that totally gives you the permission to erase all guilt about being "behind" -- to her there's no such thing.  I loved the whole book and I think I'm ready to do a big shift in the way that I scrapbook.  I highly, highly recommend it to anyone who is feeling in a rut, overwhelmed, or needs some direction about how and where to get started.  She is so inspiring and I'm sooo excited to move forward.  I'm sure I sound like a total freak, but really the book and her ideas were that good that I couldn't resist sharing.  And if you want you can add another point to my Bree scorecard. =) 

that girl

Anna needs a post -- it's been a while.  I've been trying to get some pictures of her but that seems to be near to impossible now that she is walking everywhere.  She completely gave up crawling last week and is full-on walking wherever her little heart desires to go.  It is so weird to see her walking!  Scott and I still can't get used to it. 

We also can't get over what a cutie she is!  We are constantly laughing and shaking our heads because we cannot believe we have got ourselves such an adorable little girl.  The boys agree and are always saying things like "you're such a cutie pie" to her.  Her blonde hairs are coming in slowly but surely.  I figure that by the time she's 2 1/2 I'll be able to put something in her hair.  I just switched her up to her 12-18 month clothes and I am having so much fun dressing her up each day.  Everyday Scott comes home from work and comments on how cute her latest outfit is.

She was officially weaned as of Sept. 7th -- so we are definitely on track for our vacation.  I've been giving her formula for a while.  When we ran out on Tuesday I decided to switch her over to whole milk -- I figure we're close enough to her 1st birthday.  This girl loves the stuff.  It's only been 2 1/2 days and she' has already drank a half gallon!  She also enjoys waffles, mac & cheese, string cheese, yogurt, peaches, grilled cheese sandwiches . . . . this girl is down with the dairy products!

Anna loves to clap her hands; she likes to pat her head (especially when I say "head, head, head" over and over again); she likes to walk around with empty candy or fruit snack wrappers in her hand - she likes the crinkly sound & feeling; she has a new "ooo-ooo" sound she makes while making monkey lips (perfect, she'll fit right in with the circus that Conner and Payton are building in our house); she loves to take any article of clothing she can find, throw it on her head and just walk around the house; she's also into making messes -- pulling all the books off the bookshelf.

This photo was taken last week, before the changing of the wardrobe (you can see just how tight her 6-12 month clothes were on her).  So for this photo I had walked into the family room to find Anna standing in the middle of a pile of books, at the time the book in her hand was held open with both hands, and she had her head down looking at the pictures.  I ran for my camera and by the time I got back the moment was gone.  But I think capturing a smile like this was even better!

27

yesterday was my 27th birthday.  When I think about it, it wan't too much different from any other day.  A little extra love & attention from the family is really all I need and they stepped up to the plate.  Conner made me toast for breakfast and offered me many "happy birthday hugs".  After breakfast was cleaned up Payton paraded out my birthday present . . . a box wrapped completely in 5 dollar bills!  On Saturday while I was away Scott and the boys had a little project.  They wrapped the money in plastic wrap and then taped them to the box.  He said the boys really enjoyed it.  And I'm so shocked that they never leaked any info about the surprise.  Usually they'll at least tell me that they made something or bought me something for my birthday and it's a surprise, but this time they were pretty sneaky.  I also made my favorite cake, which was delicious.  And that was about it for Sunday. 

Saturday, on the other hand, was quite a busy day.  You can read Sheila's blog since I was with her most of the day.  Scott was on kid duty -- which I am so appreciative to him for letting me go play all day.  Thank you!  Conner had soccer pictures at 8:10am and a game at 9am (he kicked 2 goals, woohoo!)

On Friday night (it's starting to sound like I had a pretty big birthday weekend, now that I think about it!) Scott and I went out for dinner and shopping.  It's so hard to do shopping with kids, especially when it involves running into 7 different stores just to pick up one thing.  So I've been saving up my list of errands so we could check them off together while we were kid-less.  There was Costco, Macy's to pick up Scott's new suit, Famous Footwear (new shoes for me), Old Navy (socks and shoes for Anna -- she's walking all over the place), Target, and Barnes & Nobles.  Both Scott and I picked up a few books for our Hawaii trip, which is so close I can hardly believe it!  He got Star Wars books, of course.  And I picked up The Nanny Diaries (thanks Lisa for the recommendation, I'm excited to read it!).  Typically, I am not a reader at all.  But I'm really excited to use some of my quiet time on the plane and sitting on the beach to immerse myself in a good read.  Who knows, I may come back from my trip totally addicted to it. 

hail!

We just had a hailstorm, as you can see.  It was a big one and went on for what seemed like 15-20 minutes.  The boys and I kept running back and forth from the front windows to the back windows to check out the accumulation. I noticed that the gutters by the front door were not doing their job -- there was a sheet of water cascading over the edges (looks like we need to add "clean out the rain gutters" to Scott's to-do list).  So I opened the front door and saw this!  It made for a pretty exciting afternoon.

payton's first day

Payton's first day of preschool.  Wow, this day has really creeped up on us.  I'm not sure how or when it happened, but he is growing into a big kid.

This morning he had his backpack on at 7:15 and was ready to go (even though school didn't start for quite some time).  When we took Conner to school he kept asking over and over, "when is it time to go to preschool?"  And we had to keep telling him, soon.  I'm sure it was an agonizing wait for him. 

All morning I could tell that he was sooo excited . . . that he got to lay out clothes and a backpack the night before, that dad decided to go into work late so he could see him off, that mom was taking special pictures of him, that so much attention was put on him.  But, of course, he was excited in his usual Payton way -- trying to pretend like he doesn't care, but unable to resist the impulse to jump, fidget, or make some silly sound everytime we compliment him or get excited for him.

Once we got there he knew the routine pretty well -- he'd seen Conner do the same thing for the past two years.  When I showed him into his class room he went straight for the toys.  He could've cared less if Scott and I were there.  We kept trying to get a hug or good-bye out of him but he was too involved.  Definitely no issues with separation anxiety here!  Here's a photo as we left him in class.  I just have to say that this is one adorably handsome boy.  Does it really get any cuter than this?

I'm assuming the day went fine -- no phone calls about bathroom accidents or angry meltdowns.  I really hope he does well this year and learns how to act in a classroom and play with other kids and some basic education (which, hopefully, I'll also work with him at home).

We picked him up from school and he was soooo excited about the paper he colored.  Oh I can just remember all those afternoons spent sitting on the couch with Conner as he unloaded projects and papers from his back pack and Payton quietly looked on.  I bet he is so ready for it to be his turn.

He said his favorite part of the day was coloring, they had goldfish for snack, he didn't have to use the potty, and he has friends in his class.  It's going to take a lot of prying to get info out of this boy (typically, his pat answer is "I don't know"), but he did a great job with his first day of mom's questioning.

just the girls

Conner is at kindergarten.  Payton is at preschool.  Anna and I are home all alone.  It's kinda weird.  Deathly silent for sure.  Two days a week it will be just her and I for about 2 hours.  I think I'm going to enjoy it.  It will give us a chance to play & read together, which is something I keep reminding myself to do, but somehow I always get distracted by the tornado that is my two boys. 

We walked in the house and I told her that it was time to play.  But as I started to think about it and look around the toys, I couldn't find much that we could actually play with -- it's mostly boy stuff.  It made me realize that I need to get some girly toys, but probably first just some baby stuff.  For some reason we had disposed of a lot of it.  Good thing her birthday is coming up.  Because right now she's playing with a box of trash in my bedroom.  And eating it.  I better go stop her.

winner

As promised, this morning I am going to draw a name for my blog anniversary celebration.  With Conner to assist me, the winner is . . . . Amy!  Congratulations!  (and btw, she's my aunt).

She will be receiving all the ingredients to make my favorite cake:  Better Than ____ Cake.  I'll let you fill in the blank.  And here's the recipe for the rest of you to enjoy:

•   - German chocolate cake mix and ingredients to make
•   - jar of caramel sauce
•   - sweetened condensed milk (14 oz.)
•   - cool whip
•   - Skor or Heath bars
•   - chocolate syrup
•   * Friends

1.  Bake a German chocolate cake according to it's package directions in a 9x13 pan

2.  While it's baking, mix a jar of caramel sauce (ice cream topping) and a can of sweetened condensed milk in a bowl

3.  When the cake is done baking, immediately poke holes all over the top of it (I use the handle of a wooden spoon).

4.  Pour caramel/milk mixture on top of cake, into the holes.  Yes, the entire bowl.

5.  Put cake into the refrigerator and let it cool completely.

6.  When cake is cooled, top with whipped cream and crushed Skor bars and, if you want, thin lines of chocolate syrup.

7.  Invite friends over to share.  They will love you for it!

Thanks to everyone for humoring me this week!  It's been so much fun.  Here's to another year of blogging!

kindergarten

Today was Conner's first day of kindergarten!  Boy, it seems like it has taken forever to get to this point.  Quite often we'll look at Conner and the big boy he's become and think that he's too old for kindergarten.  It's just weird. 

The morning ran perfectly smoothly.  I followed some tips read on other blogs and set out his clothes, shoes and backpack the night before.  Along with everything we would need for breakfast (minus the milk) out on the kitchen counter.  Once we were done with scriptures and father's blessings on this big day we were able to jump right into the routine.  And Conner was so great at moving from one step to another really without any coaxing from me.  After he ate and was dressed he told me that he was going to go comb his hair.  Right on!  Soon we were out the door.  Once Anna and Payton were securely strapped into their car seats I took Conner aside and snapped a few pictures before we were on the road.

Holy cow, that shirt practically goes down to his knees!  I did his back to school shopping mid-summer when the sales were on and bought everything a size up from what he's in now.  Which, by the way, puts him in big kid sizes -- no more toddler stuff!  I figure he'll grow or the clothes will shrink and we'll meet somewhere in the middle.  Thank goodness, though, for adjustable waist pants!

On Tuesday we were able to go to the school for a quick meet and greet with his teacher and find out what the routines are.  She seems like a great person -- very fun, young, happy.  When Conner came home today he said that she was very nice.  Which is a big thing because he doesn't ever talk about other people -- he's usually too consumed in his "Conner the Superhero" fantasies to ever notice or care.

Anyways, we brought him into the cafeteria where the K-students line up on the floor behind an orange cone labeled with their teacher's name.  She was there already greeting the kids and putting nametags on them.  As I stood back to watch (and take pictures) I noticed a little exchange going on between the two of them.  She later came up to me and said, "Conner told me that his name isn't Conner anymore.  He wants to be called Cut-In-Half.  So I just told him that that would be our special secret name for him."  Oh, I must explain.  Just recently Conner told us also that he's decided his name needs to be Cut-In-Half.  I have no idea why.  But every once in a while he'll get a little miffed if we don't call him that.  I have to admit that I think it's pretty funny so I do call him Cut-In-Half some of the time.

In this picture you can see Conner's disappointment at receiving a nametag with the name "Conner" on it.

While Conner was gone we kept busy by taking Payton to his pre-school open house.  He starts next week so we'll have first day pictures of him then. 

Then it was so fun to walk out to the corner and wait for Conner's bus to arrive.  I never rode the bus in school so this is a new experience for me.  This year I am going to be dealing with a busy morning schedule -- take conner to school, go home, take payton to school, go home, pick Conner up, go home, pick payton up, go home.  And all before 11:30am.  I decided that we would take advantage of the bus service and let them bring Conner home, saving me one trip out in the car.  Anyways, when the bus pulled up I could see him inside waving and smiling at us.  pretty. darn. cute.

Conner had a great day.  It sounds like they went on an adventure, following clues left by their class mascot "Spot, the Ladybug", that led them all around the school and taught them about the behavior and rules they need to follow at school.  He couldn't tell me what his favorite part of the day was.  Maybe once he has a chance to think about it a little more.  So here's one more shot of our 5-year old kindergartener, back home on our doorstep after a successful first day of school!

posts

The blog trivia question of the day is . . . .

Including today's post . . . . What is the total number of posts that I have made on this blog since it's beginning in September 2005?

Please put your guesses in the comments section.  I will do a final check of your answers Wednesday evening before I go to bed (11-11:30) and whoever guesses correctly or comes closest wins a little prize! 

drumroll please . . . . the correct answer is 125!  Congrats to Katie C. for being the first person to get it right on.  She will be receiving a small assortment of cute Post-It Notes.  Get it?  Guess the number of posts, get post-its??  ha, ha.  Thanks to everyone for playing -- this was lots of fun!!

anniversary celebration

One year ago today I started this little blog adventure.  It has been so fun to record the ins and outs of my life and to be able to share it with my family and friends near and far.  I've also enjoyed the community that it creates by allowing you to post your comments.  I know that in the beginning I was hungry for any response -- checking my e-mail all day long after posting, just to see if someone had noticed me and cared!  Although I still very much enjoy your comments I've relaxed a bit and do the writing & recording more for myself -- you know it's all going into my journal!

As I've discussed before with several of my blogging friends, one of the weird things about this whole blog journey is that you never know exactly who is reading.  You may get a few comments, but there's probably a lot more people out there who are just lurking.  Example:  today my typepad stats page tells me that there have been 45 hits to my blog in the last 24 hours, and I get an average of 36 hits per day.  I'm sure that some of those hits are attributed to "certain people" who are checking back multiple times a day. =)  But I have to think that I have some un-named visitors out there. 

So I want to take this opportunity, on my blog anniversary, to welcome you again to my blog and invite you lurkers to come out of the shadows! I have a game that I want you all to participate in. Sometime in the next week, if you visit my blog, make a comment to this post.  It doesn't have to be anything special, just say "hi" -- that's it, and be sure to include your name.  At the end of the week -- on the morning of Friday, Sept. 8th I will enter all of your names into a drawing for a little prize.  I don't know what the prize is yet, but a little something fun. 

Keep an eye out for other games over the next week involving trivia & other fun stuff .  Honestly, everything is up in the air right now so we'll see what I come up with!!

And just for a little trip down memory lane you can visit my posts from September 2005 to see what I was up to one year ago.  Being large with child is one of those things!