Last week Taylor had her very first Dance recital!! Her class danced to Frosty the Snowman. It was so much fun for me to watch my little girl do something that I have such a deep love for. She truly loves to dance and perform and I just can't put into words the things that makes me feel. She 
worked really hard and practiced at home all of the time, and the night of the dress rehearsal she finally admitted to me that she was nervous. Well, after a little pep talk, she marched up on stage and danced her little heart out! I am so proud of her. The next night as I was curling her hair and getting her ready, she says to me "Mom, I'm not nervous tonight...I've already been here and done this!" Haha! She is so funny! She did such an incredible job! Afterwards, Daddy gave her a dozen red roses that she proudly carried everywhere with her. Good job Tay! I am so proud of you!
Every now and again I get this crazy urge to see just how many people we can possibly fit into my kitchen...it always seems to happen around Thanksgiving! :-) I am very nostalgic and love the idea of the family coming together to eat. This year (like the last 
two), I volunteered to do most of the cooking and baking. I know, it seems crazy...but I LOVE IT!! We had such a nice meal, good food, and even better company! Hopefully we can continue this little tradition and keep having these nice get togethers!! I am so thankful for a wonderful family that indulges in some of my crazier ideas!!
I cannot believe where the time has gone! My "baby" is 6! She is growing up so fast. This year we decided to have a little more low key party than last year (THANK GOODNESS!!) She invited a few friends over for pizza, cake and then we watched "Bedtime Stories." I am so grateful that she has such a wonderful group of friends that love her as much as she loves them! They had a great time playing with her new stuff!
Happy Halloween! This year Taylor wanted to go as Hannah Montana and Danny was Spiderman...aren't they cute!? About five minutes into trick-or-treating, the kids both announced their plans for next years costumes...Taylor wants to be Candace from Phineas and Ferb (HAHA!!) and Danny wants to be Iron Man (I'm sensing a bit of a trend here..Superman last year, Spidey this year and Iron Man next year. Hmmm..) Then after about a half an hour, both kids were complaining that their legs were getting tired! What!? When I was a kid, it was so awesome to go trick-or-treating! After a few threats of going home, they decided that they were okay enough to continue..sigh. We trick-or-treated in my parents neighborhood for a little over an hour and then came back home to our neighborhood. It was so much fun! Not to mention that now the kids are in bed and Chris and I can enforce the new legislation recently passed in the Sanders Senate: The Halloween Candy Tax. One for the kids, Two for us! :-)
Last week we got to go to Danny's first Preschool Fieldtrip to the Pumpkin Patch! He was so excited he could barely see straight! Unfortunately for us, it was raining pretty good that day and it was relatively cool to boot! After trudging in mud through the corn maze, seeing some farm animals and picking out our pumpkins we were soaking wet and almost completely covered in mud! Oh well, we had a good time and hey, I just pretended that it was a really expensive mud treatment at a spa! Nice delusion, huh?! Whatever gets me through, right? :-)
So this month has been Danny's turn for extra curricular activities. He started itty bitty football and had a blast!! They had 6 different "stations" set up and the kids grouped into teams. (Danny's team was the Broncos) At each station they would practice a different skill: kicking, passing, tackling (wel
l not contact, but flag style) and terminology etc. Danny is a total animal! Everytime they were playing flag football, the kid running with the ball NEVER had a chance! Danny got the flag almost every single time! He is so cute! After a couple practices, his coach came up to me and said "when Danny is a famous football player, please remember that I was his first coach!" How fun! He's had a pretty good arm since he was little and adding a little direction and coaching to that and He is a really good football player! Hmmmm...maybe I've got a little retirement plan in the making! :-)
Wow. I can't believe what a quiet few weeks we've had. We have finally settled into the school routine and extra curricular activites, and things are good. Nice and Good. I know, knock on wood! I don't want to curse that! :-) Taylor and Danny are both absolutely loving school and are learning SO much! Taylor came home the other day singing songs in spanish that she'd learned in Kindergarten! WoW! I am seeing some neat changes in both of them, they are maturing and adapting well to not being with eachother constantly (they are seriously best friends) and they're both so hungry for knowledge all of the time. And, as an added bonus for me, they are sleeping better and longer! (They are so worn out by the time we get home!) I never thought I'd see the day that my kids tell me that they were ready for bed at 7:20 p.m. and asleep BEFORE 8 p.m!
Boy this is another one of those milestones that is bittersweet. You want your kids to grow up and become the wonderful people you dream of, but does it have to happen so soon? Today is Danny's first day of preschool! He has waited so patiently and has been so excited to go! So this morning we got him all dressed in his "Big Boy" clothes and we took Tay to school. Then it was time to take him. I drove slowly...he couldn't wipe the grin off his face! When we got there he was a mixture of nerves and excitement, but you could tell that the excitement was winning. He let me walk him in and then proudly announced that it was time for me to leave. OUCH. I snuck in a picture and then left...Now what!?
Remember a few weeks ago when I said Taylor had a loose tooth? Well it's official. She has LOST her first tooth now! Two nights ago Chris and I decided that we should probably pull it out, since it was literally just dangling there. Plus, the nerve had obviously died because it was starting to grey a little. Tay was having anxiety over this idea, so we tried to come up with some silly ways to get it out. The idea Tay liked the best was to tie dental floss to her tooth and then to Danny's remote control car...well in the pro
cess of tying the dental floss to her tooth, I "accidentally" pulled it out! :-) I say accidentally because I really wasn't intending to do it...Chris was going to do it. She was shocked, literally. She just stared at it for about 2 minutes and then started crying, a total delayed reaction! Then she realized that it didn't hurt and started laughing! She is so funny! Gotta love this kid! Then of course she had to call her Grandma's and Grandpa to tell them! She is so proud and shows anyone who will look! Later that night, the Tooth Fairy visited and left her a dollar and a cute note that told her how proud of her She was! I can't believe how fast the time goes. My baby is having all these milestones and I'm not sure how prepared I am for them! HELP! :-)
Early last week Danny went into the bathroom to brush his teeth...well, about 10 minutes later I realized that he hadn't come out yet. He had been singing, or so I thought, and when I walked into the bathroom I saw this.....
Apparently when he jumped up to put his toothbrush away, he caught his shorts on the knob of the drawer! He waited patiently..."Singing." When I walked in he smiled really big and said, "Mom, I'm stuck!" Poor kid. I thought he was singing and he was really calling for someone to help him! He was hanging on to the counter because he was still a good inch off the floor! What a silly kid!
Oh my goodness! My baby started Kindergarten yesterday! And on top of that she has a loose tooth! I cannot believe how fast time is going! It seems like yesterday she was just a baby!
Last week we got to meet her Teacher, Mrs. Kerr. Taylor absolutely loves her! She is the nicest lady and has a good way with the kids. Chris and I were both able to take her for her first day of school yesterday and took the obligatory pictures of her walking into her class the first time. It was a sad, but proud moment. She waved and walked off into growing up...
So this morning on the way to school she informs me that I CA
NNOT walk her into school today. My 5 1/2 year old is already too cool for Mom! Oh boy, I think I'm in for a long 12 years.
Danny is getting very anxious to start preschool. He doesn't start until next week, and it's been hard on him taking Taylor to school and he can't go yet. But, next week I will have 3 hours a day, 3 days a week ALL to MYSELF! Wow. What will I do with myself?
Last year we had such a great 4th of July that we thought we'd make it our new family tradition. We staked out a spot outside of the Stadium of Fire early in the day, grilled hot dogs, enjoyed a lazy afternoon and 
then listened to the concert and saw the fireworks...free. It was a such a beautiful day, never reaching over 80, and we were in a shady spot with a cool breeze! What a great treat in July! This year we were blessed to have most of the Grandma's with us. This is a RARE treat considering my MIL Jo lives in Alabama and my Mom doesn't usually exit the air conditioning in July. Seriously, it's been like 10 years since she's been to any fireworks! My Grandmother even joined us! How lucky is it that there were 4 generations from one side of the family and 3 from the other side!? I am so grateful that my kids are getting this quality time with their Grandma's! Not to mention the rare and special treat of ten quality hours with Chris...awake. These days ten consecutive hours with Chris awake is a miracl
e! Anyway, this year the entertainment was the Jonas Brothers...need I say more?!?! The kids got to hear the sound check earlier in the day, so by the time it was actually showtime, they were totally pumped up! I even enjoyed it! I know..I'm still a kid. :-) Anything Disney does totally rocks!
Last year I said the fireworks were the best I'd ever seen...Until this year. I have always loved fireworks, the louder, the better! The Stadium of Fire has consistently outdone themselves and this year was no different. The fireworks were the loudest, brightest, longest and overall BEST I have ever seen! What a great end to a great day! Happy Independence Day!
Since today is Father's Day, I thought I'd make a list of things I love about my Dad..
1. He is always supportive of me
2. He loves me unconditionally3. He has been a great Father and even better Grandfather
4. He loves to do silly things
5. His hugs can fix just about anything!
I can't forget the other "father" in my life, my husband/father of my 
children...
1. He loves us and works so hard to provide for us2. He loves to spend time with us3. He loves to have snuggle or tickle time with the kids daily
4. He is my best friend
5. He is a great father
Happy Father's Day to all the other Fathers out there!
Today was Taylor's first ever soccer game! She was so excited all week and just couldn't wait for today to come. Then Chris told her that he would be coaching her team. I have never seen her so excited in all her life! We had been practicing in the backyard and at the park a little so that she would have some idea what to do. This group that she plays with is mostly our neighborhood kids that all go to her preschool and aren't old enough to play in the city league. It w
as a really great idea and we all had so much fun watching the kids trying to navigate the cones and find the goals. It was truly a great experience. The kids got better by the minute with Chris and his "assistant coach" (my dad) helping them. Taylor's team (aka The Lightening) won 1-0! Go Team! Good Job everybody!
So the 2nd was Tom's birthday and his buddy Clay organized or should I say conspired to throw him a sur
prise party...which turned out FANTASTIC! Tom prides himself on being able to see things coming from a mile away, but was absolutely blindsided by this! My Mom, Grandma, The kids,Chris and I were there among some of Tom's friends whe
n Clay and Tom came back from his Birthday dinner. It was so funny to see his face go from confusion to surprise and back to confusion again! We had a great time and Clay was such a gracious host! Thanks Clay for a good time and an even better surprise! After we left Danny kept saying "I reawy wike Cway, Mom." Isn't that so cute?!
This month has really been an emotional rollercoaster for me. I've had several Doctor's appointments and tests to determine what is going on in my stomach. Finally yesterday the surgeon decided that he was pretty sure it's an endometrial mass leftover from my hysterectomy, so we scheduled surgery for Monday to get this taken care of hopefully once and for all. I was really at ease about it and ready to start the healing process until this morning. I think the stress and anxiety from the last round of surgery has me a little unnerved. Plus Taylor and Danny's nervousness is wearing on me emotionally. I hadn't completely realized just how much the last time affected them. I thought they were young enough that maybe they wouldn't remember, but they both cried when we told them and have been a little insecure. The worst part is that Danny's birthday is just a week after my surgery and I'm not sure how we're going to navigate that....but life goes on. Right? I'm hoping that I will feel so much better after this that I am trying to be positive. Easier said than done. :-)
So this month has been really weird weather for us. One minute it's 60+ degrees and the next it was snowing 5 inches! In APRIL! It has really reeked havoc on my psyche not knowing what the weather will be like from one minute to the next...but we had a REALLY nice weekend right before Easter, so t
he kids and I spent almost ALL day outside playing. They have really started liking their skateboards and have even had a few lessons from their cousin Tanner who is REALLY good. For now I am only comfortable with them in our driveway (seeing as our street has a pretty good downhill angle) but the kids keep begging me to take them to a real skatepark. I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet :-)!
The night before Easter, I decided to take the kids to a movie on a date (just the kids and I, Chris was REALLY sick and in bed.) I took them to see the new "Hannah Montana" movie and was really surprised at how much I even enjoyed it. Danny was awesome and enjoyed it until the popcorn and candy ran out when he started asking if we could go home. Go figure. I had been disappointed about the movie because originally we were going to go on opening night Friday, but with my Mom's move 
and Chris being sick we didn't get a chance. Well it just so happens that Miley Cyrus showed up at the premier here in Utah...at the theater AND showing I had originally planned to go to! Once again, go figure. Oh well. So we didn't get home from the movie until 9:30 saturday night and I realized that with Chris sick and it being so late, that I'd be up for a while doing Easter baskets and eggs...so thanks to some caffeine, I finally got it all done around Midnight. It all paid off though. The next morning the kids were suprised and excited that the Easter Bunny had dyed their eggs! They thought it was pretty special!
Then yesterday, after a really long and busy week, my friend Jess drug me kicking and screaming to get a pedicure. Now what I can't figure out is..why hadn't we done this before?!?! Talk about heaven on earth! Not only did my feet get pampered, but we were also sitting in really nice massage chairs! OOOhh! If only I could do that everyday!! What a nice treat! Thanks Jess!!!
worked really hard and practiced at home all of the time, and the night of the dress rehearsal she finally admitted to me that she was nervous. Well, after a little pep talk, she marched up on stage and danced her little heart out! I am so proud of her. The next night as I was curling her hair and getting her ready, she says to me "Mom, I'm not nervous tonight...I've already been here and done this!" Haha! She is so funny! She did such an incredible job! Afterwards, Daddy gave her a dozen red roses that she proudly carried everywhere with her. Good job Tay! I am so proud of you!
