Winter Fun!

Here is a little bit of the fun things that we have been doing at our house lately.

Many babies have a Binky or suck their thumbs but no worries Miss M is one who likes to do things her own way if she can her favorite thing to suck is her big toe on her left foot! Due to this you may see her with out a sock on this foot ofter because if she can she will pull it off and suck on the sock before moving on to her toe. Little A loves to make her laugh. It is just a delight as a mother to she and hear your children playing and laughing together. Little A loves rocking her in the rock chair and making her smile. Little A is big into parades ever since we watched the Thanksgiving day parade on the TV. Below he has put a parade together of all his trucks and tractors.

If you look close to the parade the Little People manger set is on the trailer behind the dump truck. He told me that baby Jesus wanted to be in the parade but he needed his mommy to be safe!
Little A could not wait to go outside and play in the snow after the first snow storm this year. He was so exacted to take his tractors out there and to build a snowman. I love the snow so I went out o play with him so that is why his snowman is small enough that he could carry it in his hands. In the picture were it looks like her is running he was throwing a snowball at his daddy while he was trying to take a picture.
Little A love magnet right now. The other night he figured out that he dump truck was metal and the they would stick to it and he had fun decorating it and making patterns with them.

Hot Chocolate is a new hit at our house Little A loves to drink is all the time! You have to love his hair the next morning with his wings ready to fly away!

Little A Personality

Little A is so much fun right now. He is always in the middle of ten different things and wanting us to help him with it. He has become the best big brother to Miss M. As you can see the other day he thought she was cold so he got her another blanket and then decided that she needed him to read to her. There is not a single thing in our house that he can not use to entertain himself. He loves to build and stack things. In the bottom right picture he has taken the tubs that biscuits and cinnamon rolls come in and stacked them to make a spaceship. His imagination just runs wild all the time. On Saturday he got to go hunting with his daddy and you would have thought it was Christmas morning. Bottom left is him all ready to head out bird hunting. He was awesome at pointing out the birds for his daddy to shoot even if they were the wrong kind. If you ask him he will tell you that he and tuck (our dog) found a good bird and daddy shoot and missed it! Really his daddy missed on purpose because last week he got one and their meat was really gross. When we drive places he will point out everything that he know what is. He loves to say "Hey mom ..." before telling me anything. Some of the other things he says that I love are: When he is hungry he will say I want something in my mouth or I want something really tasty. When something breaks, Do not worry mommy daddy can fix anything! Mom toss sisser to me, and I hold her on my legs. Something other things about him his favorite color is orange, he loves tractors, trucks, animals, balls, and playing as if he is an animal. I love this little guy and how he makes it so there is never a dull moment in my day!

Miss M sits up!

It is official Miss M can sit up. She has been trying for a long time but today she has been sitting a lot. She can sit for a long time and play with toys and when she falls she does not cry she just rolls until she can find her toys. Little A wanted me to take a picture of his scary face today and I just loved his other one. He is such a happy kid and I love all his energy he has.

Little A loves Miss M right now he wants her to be a part of everything that he does. The other he was laying and watching a movie and he asked me to toss her over so she could cuddle her. As you can see in the pictures of Miss M sitting up Little A always has to put a fence around her to protect her. I love the relationship they are already forming.

Also I Miss M long hair has gotten longer and I was able to put it into pig tails today!

Halloween 2010

Halloween was great this year! Little A went around asking people "What you gonna be, or what is your costume" for about 3 weeks before Halloween. When they would ask him what he was going to be he would say a skeletor (skeleton). When it was time to put his costume on he did not want to for 2 reasons: He did not want to scare Maddie (our neighbor who is like 75 years old) and the it was not dark outside (I had told him during the week that he could not put on his costume every time he asked because it was not dark outside). Miss M was a Monkey and Little A decided that she needed to be a Monkey in a tree and that daddy needed to be a tree. Adam was a good sport and dressed as a tree. I was a witch and made this big tutu. Little A asked me when I put it on if that was the dudu I made!

Before trick-or-treating we went to Grandma Willa and Grandpa Bob's house. Willa had made these cute mummies out of a chocolate milk. Little A loved that her was going to get to drink it with his breakfast and that it was all his! We went trick-or-treating with Kendal after we went to my parents house for a Halloween party. I remember when I was a child going to my Grandma Pickett's house for her Halloween party so I love that my kids can start to form these memories. A few of the adults dressed up I loved Lance and Tonia's costumes. All the grandkids looked so cute, each one of them have such cute personalities and the come though in this picture. After we ate my mom and dad had a fishing pond where the kids fished for all different kind of prizes. Little A love the plastic farm animals the most that he got. TayTay as Little A calls her is so great to help out all the time with both of my children.

I am so lucky to have a great family that all lives so close together and get along so well.

Miss M 1st Cereal

Miss M had her 4 month check up and is in the 50th percentile in height and weight and her head is in the 25th. With that she now gets to eat baby cereal and she loves it. Little A loves being the big brother and helping her eat it. I will tell him stories about him when he started eating cereal and he now tells me those stories every time we feed her. Next week I am going to introduce baby food!

Miss M wanted to eat the bib and grad the spoon more that eat at first but now she is a pro and loves every time she gets cereal. Little A looks so cute in this picture.

Chillin with Daddy

Miss M has perfected watching TV the same way her daddy does. She also know how to rock his to sleep! On another note Little A is into having picnics he set this one up in Miss M room the other day. He got the big pillow, I got the little on, and Miss M got to sit in the bin! Pizza is one of his favorite foods. Wooden food is better than the play dough that we have been eating lately at these parties.

Pumpkin Carving

Little A was so excited to carve pumpkins this year. He found a picture on the computer of what he wanted his pumpkin to look like and luckily he has a talented daddy who could help him create it. Little A loved putting his hand in the pumpkin and getting the gooey stuff out in his words. The big pumpkin is Little A's and the little on is Miss M's.

I thought it would be cute to put Miss M in the pumpkin and take her picture. Little A thought it was so funny. The pumpkins looked awesome with the lights out in the lit up. Little A was so excited to put them out side and light them for Halloween.

No more Binky

A few Sundays ago Little A woke up from his nap and said he was ready to send his Binky to the Binky fairy. So we went a got a box and put it in it to mail it off. He said that he wanted Grandma Tamra to help him take it to her mail box. On the way over to her house he put his Binky in his mouth and I asked him what he was doing. He said he was saying good buy to it! So far so good. Afternoon was the hardest time for him but now he does not even ask for it. The Binky fairy left him a note that he got to take to the store and pick a toy. He decided to get a garbage truck. A few times he has asked to sent the toy back to the fairy and get his Binky back.

A few days ago we where in the store and Little A wanted a toy and I told him he would have to earn it. He looked at me and said no I do not you just need to call the Binky fairy and she will send me another note and I can get it!

Pumpkin Walk and Parade

A few Friday nights ago we wanted to go to the Pumpkin Walk as a family. I have never been there at night and I will never go again. The walk was cool but if we would have waited in the line to get in we would have been there for hours. Instead we snuck in the exit and went though it backwards. The next day mu hubby had to go into work so Kim and her girls and my kids and I headed to the USU homecoming parade. It was lots of fun. After the parade we all headed to the Pumpkin walk and it was so much better . It was funny because Little A acted as if he had not been there the night before.

The kids loved putting there faces in these pictures, but my favorite is Kim as Harry Potter.

Farm

Over UEA we went to the Farm with our cousins but I forgot my camera. Little A loved it so much that we decided that the next week we would go back. So Little A, Miss M and I headed to the farm. We had so much fun there was only like 6 other people there. Little A loved the ship and the mazes. Miss M was enjoying the sun and the warm weather. I think that Little A favorite thing was to ride the train and sit in the Caboosee (as goofy calls it on one of his fav. movies). Little A loved it so much that I think I am going to get a membership so we can go more often when it is warmer.

FHE

This post is random, or should I say each picture has a different story. The top left is Miss M, she was playing under her toy and I was working in the kitchen, I noticed I had not heard her for a while so when I went to check on her she had fallen asleep under it. I guess she had played too hard. Top Left a few weeks ago for family home evening we learned about families and I thought is would be fun to paint these people and put them together to show our family. By looking at the picture you can see that my Hubby is the one with the art ability so I sure hope our kids follow in his foot steps. Little A painted his and Miss M.

Pony tail, Miss M hair is so funny and I have found that the long hair on the top works great in a pony tail! Little A is so funny he asked me to take this picture of him I think it is because I was taking one of Miss M.

Canning

This year my sister Kim has an amazing garden. I can not wait until next year when I will have one too. Kim made a goal that she would not waist anything that she grew so we canned and canned and canned some more. The only kids involved we mine and Sam for parts of it when she was not at school. Sam was a great help with Miss M and Little A just needed a box to keep him happy.

Also I love this picture on my hubby and our 2 kids they both woke up from naps at the same time and wanted to cuddle with daddy, what a lucky daddy!

Green Tomato Jam, Cucumber and Green Tomato relish are pictured.

Miss M and Mr K

Miss M is about 6 weeks older than her cousin Mr K. In the picture Miss M is about 4 months and Mr K is about 3 months. The bottom picture is of them right after Mr K was born and as you can see Miss M was like a beast compared to him. Mr K is catching up last Sunday we weighed them and they weigh the same and I think that Mr K is longer. They are so cute and I can not wait for them to grow up together!

Jill's Birthday

I have decided once you are a parent you live your birthdays though your children's'. On my birthday we went to eat and My hubby and the kids got me a cake and some flowers. Little A loved being such a big helper and like always Miss A just enjoyed the day. My parents gave me a new garbage can my niece said that it is sad when you get to a stage of life that you want boring things like that for your birthday.

Miss M roll over!!!

Miss M. was only three weeks old when she decided that she wanted to roll over from her stomach to her back. Today she decided it was time to master the back to the belly. After laying there for awhile she was back onto her back no more laying her on the bed or the couches with out worring about her falling off. Also she has found her voice and loves to use it. During the movie she was so proud of herself that she was just a telling us.

Conference Weekend at the Ranch

Three of my favorite things happened last weekend: General Conference, being with my family, and being at my dad's ranch. Everyone was there except Lance and his family and we missed them and their jokes. Do you worry there was still plenty of joking and having a great time. Conference was so uplifting and always gives my a fresh new start and hope. Jeff is known for the outfits that he is willing to wear to get a good laugh. This time he found a wore his old high school baseball pants, he had them on when Kim's family got there and welcomed them in them. Miss M is loved a adored by many I am sad that I did not get a picture of it because Taylor held her and played with her about 95% of the time she was awake. Reagan is enjoying a book and some cuddle time with Miss M. One night we decided to roast marshmallows and make smores. Little A loved the real fire as he would call it, right now in his life he is always lighting fake fires and putting them out as a fireman.

Little A enjoyed playing Air soft with his dad's help and riding on the 4-wheelers (he calls them motors). Mitch it teaching Samantha how to shoot an air soft gun. We also enjoyed some horse back riding and fishing which I did not have my camera out for those activities. Little A also helped grandpa in the tractor cutting hay the first day we were there once again no picture but he is still talking about it.
Kendal would not climb the fence she was too scared so the other cousins set up ninja training activities for her and by the end of the weekend her and Reagan were out to climb every fence at the ranch. Above is a picture of Reagan, Hunter and Kendal during one of their trainings. Miss M loves being out side aunt Jamie brought her out to enjoy the warm weather we had. The two newest cousins enjoying time with their daddies. Yes Ryan's face is really that ugly.
Jordan was the cowgirl of the ranch she spent many hours with papa on the horses. She became so good that grandpa did not have to lead her horse. On her last ride right before she got to the house she started to relax too much and the horse was done and shook its head and off came little Jordan. She was a brave little cowgirl about it.

Miss M 3 months

Miss M is three months old. I can not believe how fast time flies. She is such a happy baby.

Some things about Miss M at three months. She is chunky, loves to smiles, loves her big brother and he can make her laugh better than anyone, loves to hit toys and play, chews on anything she can get into her mouth, sucks on her 2 fingers or fist (no binky with this one), has Conan O'brein hair, hates tummy time so she rolls to her backs, close to rolling from back to belly, very awake and alert, sleeps great during the night, talks all the time (she takes after her mommy), and last cute as can be and has everyone wrapped around her finger.

The other picture is Little A and his friend Tanner yes Tanner is a lot older than Little A by 10 years, but these two loves each other. Tanner was one of my hubby's 11 old scouts. On Saturday he asked me at the church if he could come over and play with Little A. They are enjoying a Popsicle on the front porch. The picture was taken through my dirty window that is why it is blurry.

Andrew Cowboy

Last year when I was still working Little A was babysat by an amazing lady in Richmond, he will still ask if he can go there some days. There were three other children there that Little A loved. They gave him the name Cowboy Andrew. It was funny to me because they were are from big farming families and Little A was the city boy in the group. Little A loves to be a Cowboy, we had attended a few rodeo this year and now all animals buck Little A off. This video show Little A getting bucked off his stick horse. He did this for about 20 minutes yesterday.

Run Lance Run

These pictures are backwards sorry. After the race that night we celebrated Reagan and Samantha's birthdays. The had a great party. Little A loved the treasure hunt and the pinata. I love the picture of my parents with the 2 newest grandchildren (Kyson and Miss M). The other bottom picture is of Little A jumping on the tramp with his daddy. Little A was laughing so hard.

Lance ran the Top of Utah Marathon this year. I tried to find a picture from my wedding 5 years ago to show you what a different person my brother is now from then. Every year this race inspires me and I cry while watching all these people with the dedication they have. In the middle of the race Lance still has enough energy to make a funny face while running. The middle picture is blurry but it is him crossing the finish line.

Some of the girls after the race. Kim and Jodi have a neighbor that our family loves and she ran part of the race to help her running mate. After the race she came to give lance a little pep talk.

New Paint

On Saturday we decided to clean our yard and then work on some things inside the house. I have wanted to paint a table that was given to us when we moved into our house. Thanks Uncle Steve and Aunt Carolyn. Steve would die if he knew that we painted his solid oak table.

While in the store trying to decide what color to paint the table I found this orange color. I said to Adam I might want to paint a wall Adam was taken away. I have told him that we are not painting for years. We ended up with the orange for the wall and olive green for the table. Little A so a big helper. Top Left Little A was holding down the chair for his daddy. Top right and bottom left is Little A painting the wall and standing in front of his paint job.
Finished product. We are getting family pictures taken so we are going to develop a big picture and hang it on the wall. Now I am going to have to buy some decorations to put on my table.

Flour Fun!

Little A loves his little sisser as he calls her. At first we had major problems but we now have the opposite problem to much love.

He always wants her to cuddle in his bed with him to get warm. I think they both look so happy in this picture. It makes me know that they will be good friends. When ever I put her in her bouncy seat he wants to entertain her or lay under her. I love that picture she is looking down at him like get away and let me play.
Last week I was making some bread. While I was making it Little A started to play with the tub of flour. The flour in that tub had gotten old so I could not cook with it any more. So I thought it would entertain him while I was baking. Next thing I knew he wanted to play on the floor with it. So I laid out table cloth and let him play on it. He was driving his tractors, and dump trucks through it making piles. He had a variety of scoops too. He was having so much fun and it just keep spreading next thing I knew is was all over the floor. Still when we walk on it some times flour will come up. Miss M slept though the whole thing. Please excuse the no shirt little A was took it off because he wanted to keep it clean. I am just glad that he did not care about getting his pants dirty.

Johnson Cabin 2010

The last weekend in Aug. we headed up to the Johnson family cabin. The men set out to put in counter top in the kitchen while the women did a variety of different jobs. Little A and Miss M loved it, they were the only kids so they got a lot of positive attention.

Aunt Karli and Uncle Zach were there too. Little A loved throwing rocks into the lake. This picture is right before he jumped into a puddle of mud. Little A and Miss M enjoyed some movies while we were there. I love how Little A is holding on to Miss M hand.
Grandpa Johnson (Papa Bob), Little A and his dad started a fire. We went out and roasted marshmallows. We had a great time. I am so mad at myself that I did not take a picture of Grandma Great (Adam's Grandma) with my children. Little A and she formed a cute friendship.

Miss M 2 months

Here are some fun pictures of Miss M at 2 months. She is really starting to love her brother and he is getting so much better with her.

The other night we were cooking dinner on the grill so the family was all out side and Little and Miss M were enjoying some relaxing time in their comping chairs. The other day we had a fun time hagging my cousin Katie's kids over. Taylor came over to help she is going to be an amazing babysitter. Miss M loves to lay on her stomach, she already rolls over from her stomach to her back. I love the smiles on both of my kids faces in the last picture.

Kyson Ryan Dattage

My brother Ryan and his amazing wife Jamie had their second child on Aug. 17, 2010. The family was there to welcome him into this world. He was 6 lbs. 13 oz. and 19 1/2 inches long.

When he was born he had to have oxygen and a few other test done on him, but he is okay now. Above are the cousins waiting to get to see him! Hunter just loves to hold him.

When he got home we went to visit him and to compare the babies. Miss M is about 2 months older than him. Just so you can tell they are both wearing a Carters 0-3 outfits and Kyson's is just hanging off him and Miss M's is skin tight. She looks like a monster. In the second picture they were both doing the same thing with their arm.

Fair and Good Boy Chart

We went to the fair this year as a family. Miss M was so little that she slept through the whole thing so I did not get a picture of her.

Little A. favorite thing was all the different tractors that her could climb and stand on. His favorite color right now is orange so when he saw this huge (in his words) orange tractor his day was made!
Little A really wanted a new Diego toy so I told him he could make a good boy chart and earn it. While he was great and earned his 10 stickers and we headed to the store and the Diego toy was gone so instead he got a truck and a horse trailer. Little A loves working in the yard with his dad. He loved using papa ridding lawn mower.

Dino Park

Every summer we try to take all the kids in my family to Dino Park in Ogden. Due to many busy schedules I ended up going yesterday and my mom came along with my sister 2 girls. Little A had a great time but as my mom and I both said we forget that he is only 2 some time. I really think that next year he will enjoy it a little more. He liked to see the big Dinos but was not to sure what they were. All in All it was a fun day and a great summer outing.

Little A wanted to be the "Wold most dangerous creature". This was Tay's favorite Dino of the day. Jordan did a great job as our guide by deciding which paths to take.

Raspberry Day 2010

One of my all time favorite and one of the whole families all time favorite traditions is heading to Bear Lake and spending time there, Raspberry Days always turns out to be the best time ever.

To start the week off my sister Kim, I and our Children headed up to my parents ranch to spend a day and a 1/2 there. Little A was in heaven. 4-wheelers, horses, fishing, and room to run. Miss M even got in on some of the actions. She took a ride in the Rhino and got to walk around and look at things. Above is Little A helping Grandpa heard some cattle. He was a true cowboy with his boots and all.
Little A took every advantage he could to get a ride on a 4-wheeler, as you can see grandma even got into the action. I use to love riding horses and spent many years in horse 4-H. Many memories can back to me as I helped my dad saddle to horses for the grandchildren to ride. Little A was not to sure about the horses but at least this time he got on one. That night we decided to roast hot dogs and have smores for dinner. We had lots of fun until the weather ended it all by bring us a rain/hail storm.

After the having a great time at the ranch we packed up and headed to Laketown and Bear Lake. Thursday was all about the parade. The kids love this and get so excited to throw candy and get to be the stars of the show. Miss M got to ride up front with uncle lance while I rode with Little A on the back. He had a blast throwing candy and waving to the people when we would drive by them. About half way through he wanted to be done because he saw a big slide and wanted to go on it instead. On Friday night in the rain the family headed to to rodeo in Laketown I waited for a while, for the rain to stop and then headed up with Miss M to watch. Samantha was going to be riding a sheep in the rodeo and Andrew was so excited to see this because he already talks about getting to do it when he is older. Look a little A face and it describes how much he love watching all the animals and cowboys. The one of Sam is after her ride, she did great coming in 3rd place.

After the rodeo we headed back to the Laketown house to celebrate my amazing father's birthday. I have a great dad and I love him and the wonderful example he is to me and my family. Little A love him so much and loves his tractor, tow trucks and all the stuff. My parents are going on a cruse at the first of Sept. so we gave him things that he would need on it. The next morning many people went to took part in the 5K. Big-T (as we call our mom out of love) took second place in her age division. I love the picture of the runners walking back from the race.

Saturday was spent at the beach enjoying the sun, building sand castles, great food, and lots of laughs. Our family is a bit crazy at time but this weekend the most crazy card has to be given to Jeff. As pictured above he is wearing an old fashion swim suit that he found in his basement. Let's just say everyone got a great chuckle out of it.

Maelee Blessing Day

On Aug 1st we blessed Miss M. It was a wonderful day filled with family, friends, and great food. Adam did an amazing job with the blessing. At times like that I am glad that I am the mom and just get to sit there and enjoy it. Before the blessing day my sister-in-law took some awesome pictures of Miss M one was in here blessing dress. I did not get generation picture at Little A blessing so I am glad someone reminded me to do them with Miss M. The top one is a 4-generation with Miss M, me, my mom, and her mom. The rest are just of us with our parents.

Miss M 1st photo shoot

My sister-in-law Holli (Adam's sister) is taking a photo class and this week she had the assignment to take a picture of an infant. She asked if I would willing to let her use Miss M as her model and of course I said yes. Here are a few of the pictures that she has sent me. I can not wait to see the rest. We also got family pictures yesterday with Adam's whole family so I am excited to see how they all turned out too.

Nothing like eating your arm for lunch.
I love her little smile in this picture.

We finally got her to sleep so we could get some I love it when they are asleep!

Miss M 1 Month and July 24th

The pictures were uploaded opposite of how I wanted to, but I was now willing to delete them and upload them again.
Yesterday was the 24th of July this is a great day because we get to celebrate the wonderful state that we leave in and the amazing people who founded it and made it possible for all of us to be here. Also today is Miss M one month birthday. I can not believe that this sweet little girl has been here one month but at the same time I feel like she has always been here.
Here are so cute pictures of her today. Little A is getting so much better with his little sister. I can now let them be together in the same area and he does not hit or kick her.

Today to celebrate the 24th we went to a parade with my parents and my sister Kim's family in Mendon. Little A loved it for many reasons; tractors, fire trucks, semi trucks, horses, candy, water, and time with his cousins. Tay was in the parade this year for Youth 2000, she is so cute and Little A loved seeing someone he knew in the parade.

Here are some things that Little A has been up to lately. Top left, the other night Jodi took him to his first movie in the Theater (Despicable Me) so now he wants to watch movies with pop corn all the time. Here he is with the bowls of pop corn waiting to watch a movie. Top right, for a whole day Little A wanting to do everything in the mouse trap, including eating, sleeping, and playing with toys. Bottom left Little A going back to the day when he was little and sleep in this swing. Bottom right, Little A loves trains and the other day when I went to check on him during his nap he had made a train with his puzzles before he feel asleep.

Last Thursday we went and played with my cousin Katie and her kids. Little A and Savannah decided to not only play in the water but in the dirt too which creates mud. They had so much fun as you can see with how dirty they are. That evening our sod was delivered and laid out in our yard. Here is a picture on the first pieces laid down. I did not get a picture of the process but the next picture is the end product. Thanks to everyone who helped. All together helping there was between 23-25 adults there. It was all laid down and cut to shape in a little over 3 hours.

Little A loves tractors and the color orange so the other day when he got to ride in on a orange tractor that was the coolest thing ever to him. Here is a picture of my hubby and two young man from our old ward working on the fence. The bottom two pictures are of the path that we made from our driveway to the front side walk. It really turned out great I am glad that we decided to do it. It is nice to see our yard coming together and not just a big piece of dirt.