No need for Christmas toys

My generous friend, Kellie, from our ward brought over some of her kids old toys the other day that she was gonna get rid of. Maddie and Camden both dove right into the bag (well, not literally). But they literally played with them for the rest of the day and then some.

Camden is actually looking at the camera and smiling, very rare. I think he might be saying "cheese" as well.

The bag 'o toys also contained some swimsuits, which Maddie modeled for us over and over again (with panties and all).

I just couldn't resist.

Thanks again, Kellie, for supplying us with fun filled days to come!

Furniture Heaven

Alright, a few of you have been waiting on me to post my new furniture pictures. I'm happy to say that the wait is over! Hopefully you didn't get your hopes up too much. Here is what we got & I'm excited about it. First of all, (I guess I should have done before and after shots, oh well)...here is the TV stand or whatever they call it that we got for an amazing price at RC Willey. Previously we had a tall, Wal-mart entertainment center, which was manipulated when we got a bigger TV two Christmas's ago, to make it fit. I've wanted something new ever since. It's nice not to buy cheap furniture, these pieces may actually last awhile.

Next, is our new bed. I wanted to buy a whole bedroom set, but didn't like the dresser & nightstand that went with it, and it's not really in the budget right now...so I'm continuing my search for those. For now, this is great though. Although now I'm thinking we also need a new comforter! Ahh...it never stops!

Lastly, here is the one and only good thing that came from my "Black Friday" experience--the two patterned pillows on the couch which were normally $40/each and I got them for $12/each. Next year I'll have to go with some friends or something and make it a more enjoyable experience.

So, this year I will just enjoy watching my children unwrap their presents, instead of my own, which honestly does not bother me one bit. I always know everything I'm getting anyways! It's always fun to see their excitement, especially now that they're getting older...I just love it!

Merry Christmas to me! Ben was so kind to let me talk him into furniture this year. I love you babe.

(Sorry about the rain looking spots on some of the pics, the lense was dirty!)

A Little Preview

We had Ann, Ben's sister, take some family pictures for us the other day. I didn't want to reveal the final pic, since most of you will be receiving it via mail, so here are a few other fun ones...

Thanks again Annie, what would we do without you?

Thanksgiving Festivities

We've had such a fun Thanksgiving week, filled with lots of family and fun. First, on a sad note--I forgot my camera on Thanksgiving day :( I'm still upset with myself for not being able to capture everything on film. I'm a sad excuse for a blogger, I know. Despite my boo boo,we had a nice day up in Heber with Ben's side of the family (35 or so I think). Because of the large number, we held it at the church, which was nice b/c we worked off some of our extra calories by playing some volleyball afterwards. I did play in high school, so it's kinda nice sometimes to see if I still have any skills (or maybe I never did ?). Anyways, it was a good day.

The next day started off with some unsuccessful "black friday" shopping and a trip to Chuck E. Cheese for our niece's b-day. My kids love that place. Notice they don't like to look directly at the camera, which makes for great pictures.

Ok, he is looking at the camera in this one.

The merry-go-round

Maddie shaking it, while watching the big characters on the stage, she wasn't shy! (She had to hold onto the chairs for support)

Annie, aka "The Best Aunt Ever!"

Ann (Ben's little sis) is always taking my kids so I can have some peace and quiet and get things done, I don't think she knows how much I appreciate her. I love you Annie!

We ended that day with some furniture shopping...:) I'll let you know how that went later.

Santa, Big Girl

Our little Maddie seems to be obsessed with being a "big girl". Not only that, but loves to distinguish the difference between big girls and babies. The other day I was singing that "Santa baby" song, while giving them a bath and she thought that was hilarious. "Santa isn't a baby!" she said. Then she proceeded to sing "Santa big girl" for the remainder of her bath. Apparently I need to teach her that there are big boys in the world as well.

I am officially in the Christmas mood! I usually wait to decorate till after Thanksgiving, but I just couldn't wait any longer this year. This morning I got everything out and the kids are just thrilled. I'm just waiting for Ben to wake up, (he started the night shift last night) so I can retrieve the Christmas tree from under our bed. One day we won't have to store such things under our bed b/c of a lack of space!

Which brings me to my next topic...beds. I'm having a bit of furniture envy lately. I just can't get the idea of wanting new furniture out of my head. I'd love a bed and new dresser for our room as well as some sort of Entertainment center for our growing TVs. Is it safe to say, that if the TVs grow, so should the furniture around them? I know, I know...I'm being too worldly! I'm just hoping Santa will be kind this year bring me some, but it's kinda a tall order. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Maddie & Nattie

We had such a fun time last night hanging out with some old friends. Ben knew Scott growing up and he and Ben met me and Chandi (his wife) right about the same time. We had fun going on lots of group dates together. They just moved to Lehi, and we're so excited to have them so close. Maddie and Natalia ("Nattie" but I'm not sure if I'm spelling it correctly) had such a great time together. I don't think I have ever seen Maddie play so well with a friend before. They were born 2 weeks apart and destined to be friends...maybe Bosom Buddies. They never fought over a toy or had any problems together, it was wonderful! Thanks Scott & Chandi for having us over!

It got a little interesting when we would call their names, they would both turn their heads to respond.

Happy Birthday Suzanne!

My little sister, Suzanne, turns 18 today! I can't believe it. It seems like just yesterday that she was peeking at me through the window of our house, as I was coming home from dates with my boyfriend in high school. She's the last one at home, 8 years behind me...so she often feels like an only child. Hurry up and graduate Suzie Q, so you can join us here in Utah. We all miss you :)

Where do Croissants come from?

Here is a little video that reminds me of my previous post.

For some reason it makes me laugh really hard.

You're making me pee!

So, Maddie does this new wonderful thing where she pees in her undies if you make her laugh too hard or play rough with her or something along those lines(maybe that's too much information)...but some of you women can relate, I'm sure. Anyways, it's usually Ben induced, so I should blame it on him. So, when this happens and she yells "you're making me pee" out loud for everyone to hear. The first time was when we went to visit Ben for lunch at the hospital's cafeteria, we were so embarrassed and quickly ran her to the bathroom. The latest was at church this last Sunday at the end of Sacrament meeting. Oh the wonderful things children do!

(She is trying to make a scary face in this picture, with Ben's help)

Go Cougars!

Last night we were able to go to the BYU vs. TCU game (our first one this season). We opted to bring the kids, rather than getting a babysitter. They really enjoyed it, especially Maddie, who treated us to a booty-shaking dance whenever she heard a good song come over the loudspeaker. We had great seats really close to the field, all because Ben's dad "knows people".

Cam almost looks asleep here...which he ended up doing near the end of the game.

Poor squishy faced kid.

Our entourage (L to R) Ben's mom, his bro-Paul, wife Heidi, and Dad w/Maddie

BYU won by the way...I was mostly there for the atmosphere, can you tell?

I could eat these everyday...

I'm assuming most of you have eaten at PF Chang's and had their chicken lettuce wraps. Yum... right? Well, while at Costco a few weeks ago, I discovered that they sell lettuce wraps prepackaged. After eating them for lunch today, I decided that they are definitely blog worthy. I just can't get enough of them! I think I could eat them everyday. I know there are probably many of you with good recipes to make them, but I just love how easy they are to put together and, dare I say, just as good as PF Chang's. Even my kids like them (minus the spicy sauce you can put on them). Mmm...makes me want to go get more.

Nurse in Training

So, most of you know that my husband is a nurse. He gets teased quite a bit about being a "male nurse", especially from his siblings. He's a good sport though.

Well, the other day we went to meet Ben for lunch at the hospital and were looking around in the gift shop while we were waiting for him. We came across some kids sized scrubs that said "nurse in training" on the back. Maddie absolutely fell in love with them! After passing them up, we ended up going back later and buying them. On the way to buy them she said she wanted to be a "big girl nurse...like Daddy!" Haha, just what Ben wants to hear! Maddie wants to be just like her daddy, it's so cute!

She asks where her scrubs are everyday and carries them around a lot, calling them her "big girl nurse scrubs". I accidentally referred to them as her "pants" one time and she corrected me and said they are her "nurse pants". Excuse me :)

Lunch at Cafe West

(notice the guy picking his teeth in the background, lols)

Trying to get us all in the picture. This is the best we got.

The Darker Side of Me

So, I decided to go dark again! I just couldn't keep up with my roots. My hair seemed to be growing way too fast! I know, what a problem, right? Although some of you out there prefer me as a blonde...sorry! I can't please everyone, I just had to give this a try. It is quite dark (even to me), but I know it will fade fast, so I think it will be good. Maybe I'm just suppose to be a summer blonde and a winter brunette :)

The Celebrity in me

So, thanks to Debbie I found this cool website that shows you which celebrities you look like. I actually tried two different photos and got totally different people, so who knows! Pretty interesting though...

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

Lesson Learned (or so I thought)

Maddie, oh Maddie...where do I start. Just a few short weeks ago, I remember thinking to myself that she was such a good girl- a good helper and pretty well-behaved for the most part. I couldn't even remember the last time I had to send her to her room for a "time out". Well, I believe she has now entered into what I can only think to call "a phase" or at least I hope that's what this is. Today I had big plans...we (myself and the kids) were going to hit several stores to find a few odds and ends that I'd been looking for. It was 10am, so I figured we had a good two hours before either of them got hungry and cranky. Boy was I wrong! In store #1 Maddie had a meltdown. I told her we were going to leave when I could see she was starting to get antsy. She insisted that it was "too hard" to move her legs to walk out of the store. Which has been her excuse lately of why she can't help Mommy. "It's hard for me" she will say. Anyways, I threatened to leave her and she started screaming at me...a wonderful thing for any mom, especially in public! I ended up carrying both kids out of the store, both crying by this point. I was so angry with her, I thought I would scream. I told her instead of going to some fun stores, we were going straight home so she could spend the day in her room. When we got home I emptied her room of all of her toys or anything else I thought she might enjoy (see picture below). Not long after, she decided she would be a good girl. She apologized and everything seemed to be looking bright. So, we got back in the car and headed to store #2. On the way, she was talking about how "It is so hard for me to do it" but she followed that up with "Now, I know how to do it." I asked her what "it" was, but she didn't give an answer. Maybe something was sinking in, or so I thought. When we got home she was not listening to anything I was asking her to do, therefore she ended up back in her room. This is how I found her (picture at top of post--sorry they are out of order). Maybe I'm expecting too much from a 3 year old, I don't know! Anyways, sorry about the novel, I just had to vent!

I've created a monster

Not only does Camden wake up at 6am every morning (a nightmare in my book), but he insists on having candy all throughout the day....somewhat like his mother, so I can sympathize. However, since Halloween he goes over to where he knows I keep the candy and points and grunts until I lift him up so he can take a look inside the cupboard. So, at 6:30am this morning he insisted on candy. Even I (a lover of candy) think this is a little extreme. He even looks half asleep in this picture, begging for candy...so sad.

I couldn't help it, I let him take a look. Don't worry though, I didn't let him eat it for breakfast....I was able to distract him enough to make him forget about it and eat his regular breakfast--two packets of oatmeal with the occasional banana.

Trunk-or-Treat

This may be a bit of a Halloween overload, since I already posted some pictures of us in our costumes, however I just couldn't help posting a few more. So, here we are at our ward's trunk-or-treat on Halloween night.

Me and the kids holding up the fort until Ben got home from work.

Camden all hyped up on sugar, swinging from his highchair.

Cornbelly's & Farm Country (again)

I met some friends (Ashley, Luci, & Steph) and their kids up at Thanksgiving Point's Cornbelly's & Farm Country. It is confirmed that Maddie is still scared of pretty much every animal that exists, while Cam can't get enough of them. We had a good time. It's nice to get out w/other moms once in awhile and do something fun that everyone enjoys.

Here is Maddie & her friend Elizabeth (making a funny face b/c she didn't want her pic taken). When Maddie was younger she would pronounce her name "Beef If"...it was pretty funny. We'd always make her say it just to get a good laugh.

The kids and I on the horse ride.

On the jumping pillow. That thing was pretty cool. I even enjoyed a little jumping myself.