Elizabeth's Gift and Unpleasantville

I've been doing a lot of acting lately. Mom was awesome enough to come up and help watch the kids while I filmed my first feature film called 'Elizabeth's Gift'. I played an awesomely eccentric homeless woman named Devine, who runs guns for a thug, then saves the day in the end by hitting him over the head with a night stick. It was an amazing and exhausting experience.

This past weekend I was able to fulfill an acting dream and be made up with full FX makeup. I was a Bug Momma monster in a short film called 'Unpleasantville'. It's a fun and colorful film and I'm so happy that I got to be a part of it!

The Diva and The Weirdo

Kate and Jack love to dance. Put on music, any music, and they dance. Jack will even dance to songs on his Scooby Doo cartoons. They get these great faces when they dance and there's a lot of kicking and booty shaking. This day, they wanted me to just play songs and video them dancing. The second one is the longest but stay with it...they have to get through the first 20 seconds of drumming before they start dancing. Once they do, though, you can hear me laughing, especially at Jack's face at the end. Enjoy.

The Weirdo

Jack has earned himself a nickname. He is "The Weirdo". It seems mean, I know, but it is truly appropriate. He does stuff every day that makes us laugh. More often these days, Brian and I find ourselves looking at each other and trying not to laugh at the stuff Jack does. I'm sure it must be difficult standing out in a family with a diva for a sister and a bigger diva for a mom, so I guess this is Jack's way of getting noticed. We love it when The Weirdo comes out and try to document it as often as possible!

Jack's First Day of Preschool

Shortly after Kate starting kindergarten, Jack started Super-Stars preschool. He was very excited to say he was in school too. We treated the day the same as Kate's first day and he felt very special! Because preschool was after kindergarten, Kate was able to support her brother. Jack did great, didn't cry and was super excited to be the only boy in his class!

Kate's First Day of Kindergarten

We knew it was coming but it was still a little surreal when Kate started kindergarten on August 27. Because she has been going to preschool for a few years, I wasn't sad to see her go, more excited to see her start real school. She has become such an incredible girl and we were so proud to be her parents that first day. Brian went to work late so that we could all walk her to school. Her teacher is a wonderful woman named Mrs. Diane Knight and the whole experience brought back so many memories. It's crazy to be able to remember my experiences in kindergarten but then see my baby starting that part of her life. I am still good friends with many of the kids I met in kindergarten and enjoy hearing Kate tell me about her friends and adventures each day at school. One day, she got in the car and said "Mom, I feel really grown up." It made me smile. I'm so proud to be her mom.

We're Back!

I'm back...and hopefully I'll keep updating this! It's snowing outside, the kids are playing with their friends in the backyard and my day on the set of my latest film was canceled...so here I am! I think it's appropriate to start with another bulk post to kind of encompass the summer. We did a lot of fun things and Kate even went to summer camp at her old school, Kid Village. We tried to do as much stuff as we could, given she would start Kindergarten at the end of August. Here are a few slide shows of our summer adventures!

One afternoon, Kate, Jack and I decided that we should probably go to This Is The Place Monument Park. Despite the heat, the kids had a blast wandering around the pioneer town, riding horses and seeing how people used to live. We visited the school (which Kate really liked), the bank and of course, the sweet shop. I forgot how much fun it is there!

We hadn't seen Tom, Shelly and the boys for a while, so we were excited to be invited up for ice skating in Logan. Tom and Shelly had won use of the rink at an auction and the kids were stoked! Unfortunately, I had to stay in Salt Lake to work on a short film, but Brian, Kate and Jack had a blast with the boys!

Who knew that Orem had a baseball team? I didn't! Well one night, Brian and the kids were invited to an Orem Owls baseball game with some friend. Jack loves baseball and Kate had a blast playing with friend her own age! Oh, and they got free hats so that's always a plus.

Before we knew it, it was time for Higginbotham #6 to arrive. Because school hadn't started for Kate yet, we were able to make a quick trip to Logan and visit the new baby. Despite wishful thinking, Higginbotham #6 was a boy who we eventually learned was named Benjamin Thomas. (Drew lost out on his pick of Nacho...just like he lost out on Geico for Michael.) Ben looked exactly like his brothers and we were so excited to meet him! It was especially cool to see how excited Mega was to be a big brother.

Shortly after school started, Brian and the kids went up to Bear Lake with some friend. I was filming...again...but they had a great time.

For Labor Day weekend, Brian and the kids joined Brandon, Jana and Dylan on a trip to Fish Lake with Brandon's family. We hang out with the Dubois clan often and everyone had a great time!

Finally, Brian and the kids took a summer ending trip to Lake Powell. They had a blast, even though Jack refused to go in the water much.

Finally...An Update!

It's been like 3 months since I've updated this thing! Sorry!! Part of the reason is lack of space on our computer for pictures (thank you new external hard drive) but most of it is just laziness. Just like the month of December, here's a single post with the past few months activities rolled into one!

Easter 2009

We were so excited to go to Logan for Drew's Baptism! I forgot the camera, so these pics are from my iPhone. It was an awesome weekend.

Of course it had to snow in April...it totally sucked but the kids loved it.

The next day, we went to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point. Can you believe this is the next day? It was a little windy but beautiful.

Then is was off to L.A. for Spring Break! We went to an Angels game (the Dodgers were out of town), Disneyland and joined Auntie Dena for the Autism Walk at the Rose Bowl.

After getting back from California, the kids and I went for a quick overnight visit to see the boys in Logan. Tiina was in town from Texas, so we got to see her too!

At the end of May, Kate graduated from preschool at Kids Village. She is getting so big and is excited to start Kindergarten in August!

Finally, Spring brought some visitors to our lovely home in Lehi. The kids were excited to see the birds hatch, grow and leave the nest.

In the past few months, I've also made quite a few short films. I love acting and have had some really great opportunities come my way. When I get footage from all my projects, I'll post them. For now, here's a pic of Kate in my German soldier costume from "Zee Torture Chamber", a short film I starred in written by Rob Diamond.