this, that, the other

We recently found a New York style pizza place near our house. My youngest begged to eat there the other day.( I think she just likes to eat pizza that is bigger than her head!)

I am the cub scout leader in my ward. So for our activity before valentines day I saw this cute idea of making love bugs. They were a lot of fun to make. Then my other children said, "hey, we want to make some of these too, to give to our school friends." I made a bunch. They are easy to make. All you need is some plaster of paris, some plastic spoons, some paint and some acrylic spray. The original idea was to make them pins, but I found it easier to make them into magnets. (And really, how many elementary age children do you know who wear pins?) The kids painted them and came up with a lot of cute little bugs. (In the second picture I haven't sprayed them with the acrylic spray yet, so they aren't as shiny.)

My oldest got to go to the Cave of the Winds on a special field trip a couple weeks ago. She had a lot of fun. They went to the caves that aren't on the tour. They had to squeeze through some pretty tight spaces and got to get all muddy. Their guide told my daughter that she is a natural caver because she didn't have any problems going to some of the more squeezy areas. Here's a picture of her after the experience. (She already changed into some clean clothes, but hadn't washed yet)

and not to be overlooked....

My second daughter turns 9 today! I can't believe how fast she is growing up! She is so energetic! I love to se her smile. It lights up any room. She is a leader and helper. She gives me great joy and I love her so much.

And for those of you keeping track, yup, all 4 of my children were born in December. (my husband too, but I didn't post about his birthday....maybe next year.)

A boy

My son is turning 8 today. This is a big day for him. He is a wonderful kid. Full of energy and excitement. He is soooo smart. He remembers almost everything. He wrestles with and bugs his sisters every chance he gets. And I love him lots. Happy birthday.

My first!

12 years ago my life changed forever. I had my first baby. I can't believe she is turning 12. She has become such a great young lady. She is such a helper and sweetheart. She is friendly with everyone and makes great efforts to be a good sister and daughter. I love her tons and think she's the best.

You are my sunshine

My little one is turning 5 today! I can't believe it. She is such a sweetie. I want to write a couple things about her here. I love that her favorite place to eat out is Panda Express. How many 4 and 5 year olds do you know that always ask for orange chicken? I also love how she calls alligators or crocodiles, crocogators.... She always asks to snuggle with me, and she gives the best hugs. On occasion she tells Dad that he is grounded (I have to try real hard not to laugh when she does). She is a bright sunshine in my life and I am so grateful for her!

My garden

here it is as a baby..

getting bigger hail damage, ready to start harvesting

Last summer (2008) I built boxes in my back yard with the good intention of having a garden, however it wasn't until this summer that I actually grew anything. It was a lot of fun, work and zucchini. We had a couple of huge hail storms that flattened a lot of the garden. Everything looked ruined, but it still came back. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from having a garden and I look forward to planting again next year!

Halloween

Halloween was a lot of fun this year! My youngest kept changing her mind on what she wanted to be for the day. She was a cat, then a bee, then a princess, then an M&M. We thought we had it down with the M, so I took the picture, then sprayed her hair green (because she needed green hair for the costume). Shortly after spraying her hair she went and changed back into the cat costume, so she was a cat with green hair.
And yes, that is snow in the background, it snowed for 2 days before Halloween, but we were lucky and had warm temperatures for the actual day. Most of the snow was melted by the end of the day.