She Can Dance!

It's always such a struggle to narrow down all the wonderful choices out there for your kids ... art, piano, swimming, etc. So I was so excited when Ella told me flat out, "After the summer I want to take soccer and dance."
After three lessons, she already was in a performance at a ward talent show. She did great!


We shall see how long her soccer career lasts, but she sure loves being on the field with her friends. Here she is with Carly...

Preschool dropout?

So my 4-year-old wants to stop going to preschool.

She says it's boring, too long, they make her walk too much and she thinks mom could be her teacher.

WHAT? Ok, I know I have a master's, but I can BARELY make it through her brother's 2nd grade homework some days. What makes my daughter think I can teach her to read or obey or sit still or get in a line? This has pushed me to a whole new mommy crisis. What do I have to teach her? Should I let her drop out? This is her last year with me before she is in school forever. Should we just play? Do a few worksheets? Visit a library here and there. Go to the mall. Visit grandma. Stay in our PJs sometimes longer than I want to admit. Maybe it's not such a bad idea. On the way to preschool this week, I said "Hakuna Matata." And she responds, "mom, that is a GREAT idea, let's go home, turn on the fireplace and watch Lion King all day!" Hmm, tempting! What to do? Ideas anyone? Maybe preschool is overrated.

Never Forget 9/11

Sometimes the anniversary of 9/11 comes and goes and I don't give it much thought. For some reason, this year, pondering the feelings of that day motivates me to hold onto the things I cherish tightly.

When Eric and I were living in D.C., I was a few months pregnant with our first child, Dylan, when the Sept. 11 terror attacks paralyzed our nation. Eric was working moments from the Pentagon and could see flames from the plane that had crashed there. I was working further away, but for AOL News and had to keep focused on constant news updates. We were so scared by the hijackings and terror that was transforming, we wanted to be together. All phones were jammed and it was hard to co-ordinate how we could get together. Plus, since the news was so busy, I had to keep working. Finally, Eric and I got an e-mail to each other and he agreed to come be with me at work. After things settled down and it was calm enough for me to leave work, we headed home. We held hands tightly. So tightly. You didn't want to let go of loved ones as so many had lost them that day.

That evening, we laid in bed and prayed, asking Heavenly Father what we could hope for in such a turbulent world. At that same moment, we felt the first kickings of our unborn child. We both knew that was our answer, that the hope would be in our children and making the world better for them.

I'm very moved by this video made by someone who turned his life over to the Savior after witnessing too closely the events of 9/11:

First Day of School Pics

Dylan is starting 2nd grade and Ella is in a pre-K program. Dylan got the same teacher he had in Kindergarten and is so excited. He also has Daniel in his class, the boy who lives right behind us.
For the first year, he was EXCITED to go back to school.Dylan and his aide Christina start school.He had his favorite breakfast... waffles and turkey bacon!
Ella looked so adorable in all pink and a backpack with pink/brown hearts. She has these adorable Sketcher tennis shoes with lots of glitter all over. She has to wear sneakers every day, so we found ones that work even with her dresses.

They both got cute new backpacks with matching lunchboxes. For the first year, Dylan is letting me make his lunches, yay! Ella is home before lunch, but likes the matching lunchbox anyways!

So Long Summer 2009

You know it's been a memorable summer when Ella says "Mom, if I had a magic wand, I'd make it summer forever!" We had so many wonderful afternoons at the pool with friends. We loved going to a splash park, the library, the gym's splash park and getting Sonic slushes. It was the every day simple joys of summer with my kids that I treasure most! Not to mention, they both love water and sun as much as their mom!



Other summer 2009 highlights: our annual horse camp, dinners at the pool with our neighbors, vacation bible camp and crock pot dinners!

Nana Camp

We had the best time going back to our roots at Grandpa and Nana's house in St. George, Utah. I spent my summers there and loved seeing my kids get to know the town, plus their cousins and grandparents better.

So many good memories... where to begin. The theme of Nana camp was Treasure. Ann did an amazing treasure hunt day with the cousins through St. George. It started out with a sheet full of clues. The first stop was to pick up these cute bags. Oh, the anticipation as Ella was wondering if she was going to get her bag.Whew, she got it!The excitement on her face. (You'd think this girl has no bags, only at least 20 in her closet... such a girl)!
Her favorite thing was getting to take pictures with her cousins. Ella was in heaven with her very own disposable camera! Don't the cousins and Nana look adorable in their matching shirts? LOVE it!
Riding in the car, looking for treasures.
Next clue on our treasure hunt was to get some red dirt in their toes, only in St. George. Nana also showed us this amazing rock in the mountain that looks likes crystals. The kids loved hiking all around and taking some home.We also visited this amazing dinosaur museum with some amazing discoveries.

Other treasures along our hunt: painting treasures, eating dinner at a pirate pizza place, getting soaked in a river downtown St. George, swimming in Washington and being together as a family. Thanks Nana and Papa for an amazing time. We will cherish it forever!

Little Miss May

We finally got a dog! The good news about my kids' Uncle Derek and Aunt Mary moving to Switzerland is that they needed a home for their puppy. We quickly volunteered (especially when we found out how well trained she was)! Although, I was VERY nervous about taking care of a dog, I quickly fell in love with May. She's the sweetest dog! When we went to Utah this summer, we picked up May and brought her home. (Yes, I was the crazy lady on the plane by myself with two kids and a puppy... didn't have too many friends on those airplanes!)

Dylan loves to sing this song "Little Miss May, Little Miss May" and it melts my heart to hear.

Derek saying good-bye to May!
Ella loves May to do everything with her. She is her new best friend! May fit in perfectly and we are so blessed to have Derek and Mary give her to us. Yes, I said blessed by a dog, ha ha! May loves her doggy door, the rabbits in the backyard , the kids playing dress up with her (I think) and all the doggies in our neighborhood. She barks enough to let them know of her presence! She's my type of gal!Even though we love and adore May, Dylan still tells me he is "Mad we didn't bring Koko (Nana's dog) home" because Koko was his first dog love!