Sunday, August 16, 2009

8 months... a few weeks ago ;)

Davis cut his first tooth on Aug 1st.
He wants nothing to do with crawling instead he likes to stand (holding on to furniture) and scoot from one thing to the next until he falls down and someone has to stand him up again.
He is still just a happy, ticklish, snugly, sweet little baby boy.


Back to school

This summer flew by and I still can't believe the girls are back in school!

Here they have the same teacher for 2 years and this year they both got new teachers so we were very excited to see who they got and which kids were in their classes.

Hallie and Megan both got awesome teachers and we are seriously thrilled!
Hallie's two dearest friends are in her class too!



Just last year Megan was starting kindergarten and I was so worried because she was so shy. A lot has happened in one year. Yes, she is still pretty shy but she is growing and coming out of her shell more and more.


Last year it took her a few weeks before she spoke to her teacher and this year she shocked me and talked (she just said one word but for her that is great) to her new teacher the day we met her.
Last year she never spoke in front of her whole class and this year she said "yes mam" 4 times in front of her whole class on the first day of school. She was so proud of herself and told me all about it when she got home.

The older I get (and the more kids I have) the faster time goes by. It's almost scary how fast my kids are growing up and changing. I'm realizing more and more that I need to slow down and enjoy my kids instead of getting all tied up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life and losing all those little moments. It's so easy to say that but sometimes it is so difficult to remember!


Anyway, here's to another GREAT school year!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

A visit from the toothfairy

Meg was thrilled to discover a loose tooth a few weeks ago. It was really loose but she wouldn't let me near it so I told her to just count to three and pull and see what happens. To my surprise she listened to me and she counted , pulled, and out popped her tooth.
Her eyes were as big as her head, she couldn't believe it! It was so funny to watch her.

Meg lost her first tooth just a few days before her sixth birthday.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Happy Birthday Megan

So, I was going to pick one picture from each year but I couldn't help myself, I had to add more.

Megan was such a cute little thing (she still is).

Here she is 6 years ago:


One of her first smiles.


One year old

Two years old (this is when she turned into our Blondie)


Three years old






Four years old



5 years old


AND HERE SHE IS NOW, A BIG 6 YEAR OLD!
Meg's requested "Birthday Menu"
Breakfast: German Pancakes and sausage
Lunch: Roman Noodles
Dinner: Chicken nuggets, homemade fries, and Rice a Roni
Notice the lack of vegetables. ;)

Megan is a firecracker and most people don't believe us when we say that because to the outside world she can be very shy. It's like she holds it all in during the day (at school/ church
etc. ) and then she comes home and BAM she lets all that energy and personality out. If she ever gets over her stage fright I think she would be great in theater. ;)

Megan loves to dress up and changes her clothes multiple times everyday. She also loves to have her picture taken in her various outfits. Last night she asked us what passion means and after we explained it to her she declared,
"I have a passion for fashion!"
She always keeps us laughing and she is an awesome big sister. She has a special bond with Davis, he just adores her and she loves to lug that big boy everywhere she goes.

We sure love our Megamoo!

Happy Birthday Meg!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Dinnertime conversations

Every night we have someone in charge of our dinner conversation. They can ask each of us questions or come up with a topic they want us to talk about during dinner.

Hallie is such an animal lover her dinnertime conversations always have something to do with animals. Do you remember our past conversations over dinner???? heeheehee
Some recent questions she posed to the family:

*What is your favorite African Mammal?

*Name your favorite carnivore.

*What is your favorite dog breed?

Yep, that's our Hallie. I bet you can guess what she wants to be when she grows up. ;)

7 months and still growing




Sunday, July 12, 2009

cookie dough anyone?

Chocolate chip cookies are a favorite at our house we especially love to eat the cookie dough while we make the cookies.


Campbell is very familiar with cookie dough, he LOVES it. If he sees me mixing anything in a bowl he comes over with a spoon and says, "cookie?"


A few nights ago I was making cookies and called to the kids to, "come and get a spoonful of cookie dough." They started squealing and running into the kitchen but Campbell headed over to some other drawers and started searching through them.


When I went to give Campbell his spoon full of cookie dough he said "no" and pushed it away and continued searching for something. Finally he found the big ice cream scooper and turned to me and said, "dis one!"


He's no dummy.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Roadtrip Summer 09

Last Wednesday we started our much anticipated "road trip" by driving and driving, and driving, and driving, and driving

up to Palmyra, New York.

Davis used the time to catch up on all of his summer reads.
We stayed in a great family friendly hotel (LOVED it), The Palmyra Inn.Hanging out in the hot tub was just what we needed after a long day in the car.
Thursday morning we headed over to "The Smith's House" for a tour.
It was amazing to go through these humble homes and think about the miraculous things that happened there.



My favorite part was the Sacred Grove.

While I was in the sacred grove I found myself snapping pictures right and left trying to capture the beauty but more than that to somehow capture the overwhelming peace that I felt as I walked through the grove in photographs.
Here are two of my favorite pictures and every time I look at them I can't help but wonder if maybe just maybe one of those spots were where the vision occurred.

Next, we headed up to Niagara Falls.

What can I say? The falls are amazing!

We wanted to get a closer look so we put on our blue ponchos and jumped on "The Maid of the Mist".
There were a few terrifying minutes when the boat captain kept trying to get closer into the "horseshoe" of the falls where Trevor and I looked at each other and made a quick plan just in case we capsized ("You grab Campbell and Megan and I'll grab Davis and Hallie"). Luckily we all survived but even with the ponchos we were SOAKED!


Check out Campbell in this picture. I'm pretty sure a two-year-old with a plastic bag over his face is a bad idea.
The next day we found a great park by the river and stopped to take pictures, pick wildflowers, throw rocks into the river, and pet stranger's dogs.




Then onto Cleveland to visit our dear friends.

And see their sweet new baby. (not the baby above, he is all mine)

We had front row seats to the city's firework show in Dave and Marla's front yard and the kids enjoyed some sparklers too.

PERFECT!

We also met some of the local wildlife as this little guy kept sneaking in the back door in search of the bag of peanuts.

Saturday we toured the Kirtland Temple.

I thought a lot about all that the saints sacrificed to build this temple. It really stands today as a testimony of their faith.Love this pic of Campbell and DaveyNext, we toured the church owned section of Kirtland. The Newel K Whitney Store was so neat. Almost all of it was original including a lot of the furniture upstairs where Joseph and Emma lived for a time. The table where Joseph sat and recorded some of the revelations was so cool to see. There was a sign that said, "please do not touch".

Trevor touched it anyway but I did not... I wish I had.

Here are all of the girlies. They had such a great time together.

Our road trip of summer '09 was so memorable and totally worth the 22+ hours we spent in the car. It won't soon be forgotten.
I wonder where our road trip summer 2010 will take us.