A Knight, His Lady, & their Clan

Man, I love this kid...

2009-09-26T22:13:00.003-06:00

First Day of School

2009-09-26T22:07:00.002-06:00

I recommend having a babysitter who likes photography

2009-07-30T23:10:00.006-06:00

My babysitter, Kayla, loves to photograph my kids and she's taken some of my favorite pictures of them. Thought I'd share them... (They look a bit grainy until you click on them and see them full-size)

Spring Pictures

2009-07-04T11:01:00.001-06:00

1st Year Under my Belt

2009-05-30T21:32:00.002-06:00

Well, I just finished my first year teaching in public school. I LOVE my job! It totally has its difficult days when I want to crawl back in bed, but ultimately it just challenges me in all the right ways. I'm excited to go back next year and have a solid curriculum and not feel like I'm kind of winging it.

I am so blessed to have a job that I love and that pays me well enough that I only have to work part-time.

The End of an Era?.....Hope Not

2009-05-25T23:03:00.003-06:00

So a couple months ago we met with our friends, Steve & Jayme Smith. They are the couple behind Stories in Concert. Steve writes all the music and Jayme produces. They sprung it on us that they were moving in a week to Logan. For those of you that don't know, Logan is about two hours away. They've been living in this tiny rental for more than four years with their four kids and it was time to buy a house. More than time. So they found a place in Mendon (just outside Logan) that they couldn't live without.

Needless to say, we are not doing The Legend of Sleepy Hollow this year. Nor are we doing The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere at the Freedom Festival, nor are we working on Alice in Wonderland for next year. It took David and I several days to process and realize the full import of it. We are definitely bummed, saddened, etc. I told David tonight that while I mourn the loss of my involvement in it, I'm more saddened that it just isn't happening at all. It's just too good a thing not to happen!

Anyway, they say that we will pick it up again in the future, but we're not sure when. And how exactly is that going to work with them two hours away? We shall see...

Eight is Great

2009-04-24T16:10:00.020-06:00

Wow, where has the time gone? We've had a rather eventful couple of months. Some good, some bad. I've got a bit to catch up on. I'll start with Hadley's birthday and baptism and then see where I get from there.

Hadley had some friends and cousins over for her birthday for a movie party.

First they ate pizza, then watched "Bolt."

Opened presents next.

Then we had cake and ice cream. It was pretty mellow and I think they had a good time.

Then the next week was Hadley's baptism.

Grandma & Grandpa Knight came, as did Rebecca & Emily, the Guinn family, the Matt Phair family, Jake and Elizabeth. Jake gave one of the talks. We also had friends from the ward and school. She was baptized with two other girls so there was quite a crowd. Hadley and her friend Liz, who was also getting baptized, sang a musical number with their brothers and sisters. They sang, "When I am baptized." Hadley was so nervous that she said before she went up, "I feel like if I go up there I'm going to explode." As you can see from the pictures she didn't explode, but she was a bit overcome with emotion and had a hard time posing for a picture right before going into the font.
She just gets nervous and can't function sometimes. Bless her heart.

She was happy inside...really. :-)

This is Hadley's best friend Parker. They met in the first grade and have been inseparable ever since. Sadly, he just moved to Highland, and while he's finishing school with her this year, he will be at a different school next year. Parker's mom and I are wondering how they are going to survive. The other night in her prayers, Hadley said, "Please help me to be strong next year without my friend, Parker--when he needs me and I need him." She just doesn't like playing with the girls much at school and not all the boys are as sweet as Parker. We'll see what happens. She has girls that are friends in her class, but would just rather play with boys most of the time.
Hadley & her cousin Aiden
With Grandma & Grandpa Knight. Grandpa Knight confirmed Hadley.
All the cousins that were there from the Phair side of the family. Check out Jordan and Hadley. (Jordan is the tallest cousin in the background) Are they twins or what? They also have those twin high-strung personalities.
Grandma & Grandpa Knight and the youngest of their brood. (Except for Jacob, Jakob, & Erik who are in New Hampshire)
Seth was cheesin' it up so Val decided to zoom in on him.

Things I Love...

2009-02-21T22:27:00.004-07:00

Since I didn't get around to doing a Valentine's post this month, I thought I'd spend a little time thinking about the things I love. This list is by no means comprehensive, just what's going through my head right now...

I love the smell of my children after a bath
I love warm chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven (semi-sweet chips, thank you)
I love laying in bed with my husband and talking about whatever
I love to hear my son ask if he can have "panpakes"
I love that my girls think I'm funny
I love the smell of garlic and onions stir-frying
I love the smell of rain
I love free food
I love my jobs (all four of them)
I love the little sounds babies make
I love that I feel happier now than I have ever felt in my life
I love that I can still feel peace in the midst of such uncertainty around me
I love that I live in a time when a woman can get an epidural
I love my country
I love reading to my children
I love that I live in a neighborhood where people don't worry about impressing everyone else
I love an empty kitchen sink
I love trying new recipes
I love that one of my son's bedtime rituals is to spend a couple of minutes cuddling with me
I love singing
I love that when I sit down and play the piano it relaxes me. Or, in the words of Lucy Honeychurch, "I generally forget my worries at the piano"
I love to teach
I love that I am a woman, and that I am blessed to be a mother
I love that there's no one else in the world I'd rather talk to or spend time with than my husband
I love my church, my Savior, and my Heavenly Father

A Haunting Video

2009-02-10T20:02:00.003-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFJ9xeYUTnQ

David sent this to me earlier today and I haven't stopped thinking about it since. What the crap are we doing, and how are we going to get out of this?

I was going to go off about how I feel about the current stimulus bill, but I'm so sick of thinking about it. I've been way less than impressed with Obama's scare tactics (ie. if we don't pass this tomorrow we're all going to be eating wallpaper paste). He's a hypocrite, because how are programs that we won't see the benefit from until 2-3 years from now supposed to help us now in 2009? I'm just disgusted with it all. I tried to have so much optimism three weeks ago, but it's gone now.

Christmas 2008

2009-02-02T13:20:00.007-07:00

On Christmas Eve, after a living room picnic consisting of cheese, crackers, summer sausage, li'l smokies, and Martinelli's, the kids opened their new pajamas. I think Seth's worn his "Fiderman jammies" every night but four since Christmas. In fact, if you come over to our house on any random afternoon, you might see him ready for bed at 3:00.

Santa brought Seth a train set. When we asked him to sit with his train so we could take a picture, apparently he thought we said sit ON your train.

Grandma Emmett got the kids new binoculars. They are so nice, David and I are claiming them too.

Hadley was so excited that she got the entire set of A-Z Mysteries. She'd been asking for them for months.

I think this was the first Christmas where there were actually any pictures of me. I didn't even have to ask David, he just took the camera and took pictures! It was great!

This was by far the best Christmas morning for us. Not because of the presents. I just made the choice to be relaxed. I didn't worry about getting wrapping paper picked up and thrown away as we went or making sure things were staying organized. We just became surrounded by chaos as the morning went on, and it was really great. It only comes once a year, why stress?

Passing the Torch

2009-01-20T14:03:00.003-07:00

I just wanted to share my thoughts today as I watched the transfer of power from President Bush to President Obama. Our principal at our school is so smart, and he asked all the teachers to tune in their televisions to the broadcast of the inauguration so the kids could witness the historical event. Then he also challenged the students to write about it in their journals. So, I'm going to take on his challenge.

Overall, I watched the broadcast with a fair amount of hope. I am, without a doubt, so happy that my children will grow up in a nation where it is possible for anyone to be president, regardless of race or gender. It's a very cool thing. I am happy for the young African Americans of our country that they have this role model to look up to. I hope many of them choose to follow his example rather than some of the sports figures who lead rather sorry lives.

I am hopeful that President Obama can unite our nation. I am SO SICK of the partisan bickering. He says this is his goal, and I think we should all hold him to it. While I may not agree with all of his policies, he is my president and I will support him as best I can. I really do love this country. Things feel like a bit of a mess right now, but I still believe there is no greater nation on this earth. But we have to believe that it belongs to us, the people. We are responsible for making the change happen. Get on the email lists of your senators and representatives in congress. Let them know what you want to see happen.

But don't forget the power we do and should have within our own state governments! We do seem to be forgetting that we are a United States of America. The federal government cannot and should not solve all of our problems.

Anyway, off my soapbox. Happy Inauguration Day!

Thanksgiving with the Firths

2009-01-17T13:18:00.008-07:00

For Thanksgiving this year, we went up to Montana to visit our good friends, the Firth family. We had Thanksgiving several years ago together when we both lived in Los Angeles. I was pregnant with Hadley and they brought home their adopted daughter, Danika, a couple days later. Here's us in 2000:

Here we all are in 2008:

As you can see...no Seth! He was polite enough to take a nap for me and I got to enjoy my Thanksgiving dinner! He got to feast on a pb&j when he woke up.

Mary made the most amazing stuffing I've ever had. I've actually thought about it several times since we were there. How pathetic is that?

But enough about the meal. We had a great weekend at the children's museum, swimming, and just hanging out. Watched a movie or two. But we had a great time talking. We sure miss being able to talk with David and Mary on a regular basis. We LOVE just hanging out and talking with them. The kids played great together too. Danika and Hadley played as babies:

And now they got to play together as little girls:

We hope it's not too long before we get to visit them again!

Sledding with Cousin Emily

2009-01-17T12:25:00.007-07:00

For Emily's birthday, she wanted to go sledding with Hadley and Lillian, so they drove down here and we had a blast.

Seth got impatient waiting for the tubes to come back up so he thought he'd try his bum. Needless to say, he didn't get very far.

And what would an afternoon of sledding be without a minor casualty?

I thought she looked pretty cool, but it's hard to convince a five year old of that.

"Cinnamon Frosting" and "Sixes See"

2009-01-01T09:59:00.003-07:00

But Mom, your lipstick looks so pretty on you, why not me?

2009-01-01T09:43:00.002-07:00

Happy 2009!

2009-01-01T09:22:00.002-07:00

I'm not sure I've ever really made any New Year's resolutions. Goals have never been a big thing in my life. Personal Progress? Never finished it. I've decided that this is one of the contributing problems to my numerous self-defeating behaviors. I've never wanted to set goals because I didn't want to fail. SO...that's gonna change.

First goal--blog more! I'd like to blog at least weekly, but since I'm coming from a place of blogging once every two to three months, sometimtes more, I'm going to instead make the goal of blogging every other week. I got a new Palm Centro phone for myself for Christmas, so I'm going to set an alarm to remind myself of this. Wish me luck!

Other resolutions for 2009:

Read scriptures daily
Keep my kitchen clear of clutter (this includes MANY other small goals that will help make this happen)
Get to bed earlier and wake up earlier
Exercise three times a week
Do my neck exercises at least every other day for three months (I have a series of exercises prescribed by my chiropractor--when I do them regularly my pain and headaches decrease significantly)
Follow a budget
Pray more

Not only is it a big deal that I'm making resolutions, it's a HUGE deal that I'm actually posting them for anyone to see. Remember that fear of failure? Trying to overcome that one. I've been trying to teach my seven year old not to be afraid of failure, and I've got to live what I preach.

So Happy New Year to you all. May the new year find you more peaceful, more prosperous, healthier and happier.

Halloween 2008

2008-11-03T13:48:00.007-07:00

Carving pumpkins Minnie Mouse, Elephant, & Gypsy Seth's costume had the cutest padded bum. Hadley really wanted a picture of what her skirt looked like when she was dancing. She wouldn't wear her head scarf that night--without it some people weren't sure what she was supposed to be. Oh well... We had to wait a while for David to get home from work before I could take them trick or treating. It felt like every time I turned around Seth had opened up another sucker from my bowl and was chowing down.

I read one time that sugar highs in children are a myth. I decided that whoever wrote that never had children of their own, or never had the joy of sitting exhausted on the couch after a night of Halloween festivities watching your kids bounce off the walls. (Sorry it's sideways--no idea why and no idea how to fix it.)

Candyland ala Lillian

2008-11-03T13:43:00.002-07:00

Lillian wanted to play Candyland with me the other day. I responded that we didn't know where the cards and playing pieces had ended up. She disappeared into her room for quite a while and I thought I was off the hook. Then she tells me she's ready to play and I see that she's colored and cut out a BUNCH of her own cards and has the dollhouse figures ready to play. So we did. I was quite impressed with her resourcefulness!

No Training Wheels!

2008-11-03T13:32:00.002-07:00

Monster Trucks & President Monson

2008-10-19T21:51:00.004-06:00

Seth has a real thing for monster trucks. I bought him a DVD about them that he loves and watched at least twice a day for a while. He takes them in the car, and almost always goes to bed with one in his hand. About two months ago, we were saying family prayer together while Seth rolled around the room, (or danced, or did whatever else he usually does while we pray). The person saying the prayer said they were thankful for President Monson. No doubt Seth heard something else because we suddenly heard his quiet voice start chanting, "monster trucks, monster trucks" over and over, getting louder and louder. We quickly finished the prayer before we all burst out laughing.

Then tonight it was his turn to say family prayer, so I was helping him. We were saying our list of things we were thankful for, "We're thankful for our family, we're thankful that we're all healthy, etc." Then he says, "and Monster truck...DDD" (DVD) and he continues on with what I had just prompted him to say. The girls couldn't hold the laughter in so we had to quickly end the prayer.

Shutup, I'm doin' it!

2008-10-18T21:03:00.013-06:00

I have this problem. I feel guilty about everything. I should have known that when I started a blog, all it would do is add one more thing in my life I have to feel guilty about. Why do I do this to myself? I hope someday to delve deep enough into my psyche to figure out the event in my childhood that no doubt left me crippled. But until then...I will do my darndest to justify my actions (or lack thereof in this case).

So here's the thing people. Let me lay it out for you. This is a typical weekday for me. I get my daughter Hadley off to school by 7:40. Then it's getting Seth ready for the day (this includes making sure he has his favorite monster truck or car for that day--it changes every few days). Then I have to plead and beg for Lillian to crawl out of bed so I can then plead with her to get dressed (please do NOT wear those apple print pants with that brown and green striped shirt, honey). Then after I spend time explaining how Mommy can't be late for work and to please get downstairs so I can feed you breakfast (in the midst of all this I have to shower, blow-dry, make-up, etc.). She somehow manages to fit it all in just under the wire and we pile into the car. Then it's off to drop Seth at the babysitters and Lillian at her friend's house (they take her to school for me).

Then I get to spend 2 1/2 hours teaching music at a grade school. I won't go into detail here. Let's just say that, as with any teaching job, some days are heaven, some are hell.

Then I get home just in time to pick up Seth from the babysitters and head over to the school to pick Lillian up at noon. Then I come home and make them lunch. By the time I get Seth down for a nap, make and eat my own lunch, clean up lunch messes, it's usually after 1:00. And you can bet Lillian is needing some one-on-one time with me. She's not afraid to let me know. Then I have that little bit of time between playing a game with Lillian and that time of day where you say, "Crap, what am I doing for dinner tonight?" to get everything else done. And so on, and so on... I won't even describe what things are like when I'm rehearsing a show, or worse, in the run of a show. Yes, I COULD use my nights after the kids are in bed to get more done. If only my body would cooperate with me in this.

So how do I fit in all the rest? Don't know. Some days I don't. Sometimes I have energy to get it all done (pretty darn rare). Sometimes something's gotta give. Or lots of somethings. I try to not let that be my kids or my calling. I won't give up my shows because it is the one thing I do for myself. It feeds me--emotionally and creatively. For those of you who have never done it, you probably don't know what I'm talking about, but you'll just have to trust me. We all have our things we need that are just for us, and this one is it for me.

Now, I'm not trying to play the "I'm busier than you" game. Really I'm not. I'm just trying to let you all know why blogging happens just shy of never.

Anyway, here's a few pictures to pacify you all (all three of you who read my blog) until the next time, whenever that is!

The girls decided to do a lemonade stand this summer. They made about $8 (thanks for that handfull of change from your car, Brooke!)

Outdoor movie night at the Thill's. I'm already missing those warm summer nights.

Camping at Pineview Reservior with the Palmers.

It was not five minutes into our drive home that I turned around and saw this.

I'm Alive and Mostly Well...

2008-09-29T23:19:00.003-06:00

...just incredibly busy. But things are good. Our show opens this week. Check it out at www.sleepyhollowshow.com.

Lillian has started Kindergarten and is doing very well and loving it. Hadley is loving the second grade, and Seth is NOT loving that he has to be babysat every morning while I go to my new job at Westmore Elementary (music teacher). Loves to make me feel guilty every morning I drop him off. But he only cries for about 30 seconds (so she tells me.)

I do like my new job, but it definitely has it's challenges. There isn't any teaching job that doesn't. But it's the first time I've ever taught the arts to kids who are there simply because they have to be, not because they want to be. It's been a challenge for me.

Anyway, with a part-time teaching job, directing a production, workshopping a new production, taking care of three kids, and being in the RS Presidency, I find that blogging ends up very low on my list!

Fun!

2008-07-22T22:49:00.005-06:00

I saw this on my sister and sister-in-law's blogs so I thought I'd do it to!

Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments. Or if you don't feel like commenting you can email me if you have my email address.

Are they just too cute, or am I just biased?

2008-07-10T22:48:00.003-06:00

Diana Gabaldon & Cell Phones

2008-07-10T00:01:00.005-06:00

I took the girls to the park a couple Saturdays ago and while I read one of my favorite authors, they pretended to have conversations with hip and cool friends on my cell phone while taking pictures of each other. When Hadley asked me to bring the camera to the park, I had no idea this is what she had in mind. These are just a sampling.

Family Night on the Farm

2008-07-08T23:36:00.007-06:00

We went to Thanksgiving Point last Monday night and had a good time. It was cowboy/cowgirl night so the kids got to practice shooting guns (water guns) and ropin' steers (haybales w/ cows heads).

"I'm not nervous riding this pony...honest."

I dare you to click on that photo and check out the uvula on that girl. The kid was born with her Dad's huge mouth.

Yeehaw!

2008-06-17T22:20:00.002-06:00

p.s. Thanks Val!

Hummingbird Moth

2008-05-26T20:14:00.004-06:00

Last night I went out to turn on the sprinklers and there was this thing floating around one of my plants that has little tiny white flowers. I thought I was looking at a tiny hummingbird. It moved just like a hummingbird, wizzing from flower to flower and hovering at each while it drank. I told David to come out and look. I asked if he thought it was a hummingbird. He said, "It looks like it, but look at those antennae." I went and quickly looked it up on the internet and sure enough, it was a moth--a hummingbird moth. The thing that was so amazing about it, was you could get right up to it and it never even flinched. Just acted as if you weren't there and went about its business. These pictures I took make it look more like a moth than it did in real life. It was really cool. I was impressed that my camera got such clear pictures of the wings, as they were moving so fast they were almost invisible to the naked eye.

Preschool Graduation

2008-05-26T20:03:00.004-06:00

Lillian graduated from preschool on Friday. She asked if she could take her umbrella with her as it had been raining off and on. I dropped her at the classroom and then took my seat with the parents, thinking she'd just put it with the coats and backpacks, but as you can see, she didn't...

Great Book!

2008-05-22T19:18:00.005-06:00

This is a great book! I just finished it. I highly recommend it if you want to make sure your kids are learning how to think, a process which isn't taught very well in our current school system. Using classics to teach is the main reason Stories in Concert exists. We are excited to be a part of this endeavor and enthusiastic about the future of our company.

SOMEBODY please teach those Knight girls how to smile!

2008-05-22T17:03:00.002-06:00

Pockets--gotta love 'em

2008-04-30T15:27:00.004-06:00

While we were on our vacation, Seth discovered that most of his pants have pockets, which he thought was pretty cool. He had one accident going up some stairs when he couldn't get his hand out fast enough to catch himself, but other than that little blunder, he was looking pretty suave...

The Firths

2008-04-30T15:09:00.006-06:00

Our awesome and dear friends, David and Mary Firth and their kids, visited us at the end of March. We met them while living in Los Angeles before either of us had any kids and they became like family to us. When we left Los Angeles Hadley was 17 months and Danika was almost two. Danika and Hadley are only four months apart, and Jason and Lillian are only three months apart. So it was fun to get the kids together. Lillian got quite attached to Jason for the short time they were here. We miss them so much and don't get to see them often enough. But we've scheduled a trip in August to visit them in Montana where they live. Can't wait!

P.S. David and Mary adopted both of their children. Mary produced and directed a documentary called "The Giving" that I highly recommend if you know of anyone who is pregnant and wondering if they should give their baby up for adoption. Check it out at www.thegiving.info

Hadley's Birthday

2008-04-30T14:55:00.007-06:00

For Hadley's 7th birthday, her cousins Brody and Aiden came over for a late night. We started with a a dinner of chicken nuggets and chocolate milk, at Hadley's request.

Then Hadley opened her presents. Her last present was a mysterious envelope that started her on a scavenger hunt through our front and back yards...

Which ended at our shed

where she found...

A NEW BIKE!!!

Then we got out pillows and blankets, popped some popcorn and watched "Enchanted." Good times.

Classic Skating

2008-04-30T14:45:00.005-06:00

Hadley's school had a Classic Skate night a few weeks ago so we took all the kids for family home evening. It was actually pretty fun. Thankfully, Seth was content to ride around in his stroller. My arm muscles were tight at the end of the night because I spent most of the time holding the girls up. Neither one ever ventured out without the support of either mom or dad (or the stroller). Lillian is probably one of the most accident prone people I've ever known--quiet uncoordinated. While she didn't get hurt that night, she was absolutely hysterical to watch on skates.

Yes my daughter has her very own sense of style...

Daddy's Little Helper

2008-03-13T15:11:00.002-06:00

Seth seems to love anything that breathes testosterone. I didn't know until I had a boy that there are most definitely innate male/female characteristics that they show even as babies. He's known since he was several months old that a car rolls along the ground, a ball is for throwing and bouncing, and he couldn't care less about that baby doll lying on the floor. (Although he LOVES real babies).

Kites

2008-03-13T15:02:00.004-06:00

I bought the girls $1 kites at wal-mart so I took them over to the church to fly kites last Saturday. The wind was awesome and we had a blast. I don't often get outside to play with the kids and it was really nice. I've been trying to do it more and I never regret it when I do.

What goes on in those little minds?

2008-03-13T14:58:00.002-06:00

A couple days ago, I was driving along with Lillian and Seth in the car. Lillian was looking at Seth and she asked me, "Mom, is Seth's spirit a baby?" I told her that his spirit wasn't a baby, that it was as old as ours. She said, "Then how does it fit inside his body?"

Help!!!

2008-03-07T16:30:00.003-07:00

I really need someone to give me a a serious tutorial on this blogging thing! Look at my post below. Why, when I have paragraph separations in my draft, once I post it they disappear and it all gets smushed together? I've tried posting this three different times and it's turned out like this every time. Wassup?

Tagged

2008-03-07T16:20:00.005-07:00

So my sister Kendell tagged me recently, so I guess I HAVE to do this! :-)

What was I doing ten years ago...

I was touring as the Stage Manager for the Shanghai Acrobatic Theatre, and David was the Tour Manager. Didn't sleep for two months. Wackiest two months of my life. Wouldn't do it again...wouldn't trade the experience for anything.

5 things on my to do list.

1. Clean out my file drawers.
2. Then file my mile high stack of papers.
3. Get the rest of my home office organized once and for all.
4. Finish the remodel on our stairs
5. Finish the refinishing of my doggon kitchen cabinets!

3 bad habits

1. Reading when I should be getting something else accomplished.
2. Not taking care of papers/mail as soon as they come in the door (see the constant stack in my kitchen)
3. The Office on NBC - I've been catching up on all the seasons I've missed and now I'm addicted.

Places I have lived

In order...
Turner, Oregon
Mesa, Arizona
Salem, Oregon
Provo, Utah
Pleasant Grove, Utah
Los Angeles, California
Portland, Oregon (Beaverton, to be exact)
American Fork, Utah
Orem, Utah
To be continued...

Things most people don't know about me

I made it onto the JV basketball team in 10th grade and then quit a month later to be in the school musical. One of the best freakin' decisions I ever made.

I was chosen to sing the National Anthem at a Blazer game, but then couldn't do it because I was away at college. :-(

I am very afraid of the water. Especially water I cannot see through. But Val, I'll still go out on your boat if you invite me! :-)

Tag, you're it to...Shannon, Libby, & Wendy B.

The Little Guy

2008-01-30T20:57:00.000-07:00

So this is mostly for the benefit of the grandparents, but I took a couple videos of Seth today I wanted to post. The kid just loves to dance. He seriously has more moves than any of the rest of us could ever hope for (okay maybe excepting Hadley). But he'll dance to anything if it even remotely sounds musical or has a beat. These aren't his best moves, but I wanted to show that even "Mary Had a Little Lamb" will cause him to get his groove on....

When I told the doctor the other day he doesn't have much in the way of words, she asked me if he had at least ten. I said if you counted animal sounds we could maybe get ten! So here are four of his "words."

2008-01-28T15:28:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago, David and I were have a bit of a tiff in front of the kids. (No we don't make a habit of it, but sometimes things slip...) Hadley walked up to us and handed us this thing she'd drawn. It was her "Plan" for what we needed to do when we are arguing. I'll let it speak for itself...

Best Buds

2007-12-01T13:14:00.000-07:00

This is how I found Hadley and her cousin Brody watching a movie the other day. She totally adores him and the fact that he's letting her tells his side of it. Then later I found all three of them like this on the couch. They all just love playing together. (I'm using the term "playing" very losely of course--but being couch potatoes together counts, right?)

First Snow!!!

2007-12-01T12:55:00.000-07:00

Last night when Hadley was saying her prayers she asked that she would have a good time playing in the snow tomorrow. When she was done, I said "How do you know there's going to be snow tomorrow?" She looked at me with a 'duh, mom' look and said, "It's the first day of December tomorrow!" I told her that didn't mean anything and to not get her hopes up. Well we woke up to a few inches of snow! I guess her faith was rewarded...

As you can see, Seth didn't much care for it.

The First Thanksgiving

2007-12-01T12:37:00.000-07:00

We joined two other families a few weeks ago and had a "First Thanksgiving Feast." We did it the week before Thanksgiving. I grumbled a little about it for a few days beforehand because I was so busy and didn't feel like doing it, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. It created a great memory for the kids. Our friend Jayme made up a script and David portrayed the governor of Plimoth Colony (yes I meant to spell it that way) and the other two dads portrayed the Indian leaders who were there. It was cute. We all made some old recipes from the Plimoth Colony website and then had a few more modern dishes mixed in (hurray for Costco pecan pie!).

I wonder where they got these personalities?

2007-11-08T15:27:00.000-07:00

There is no lack of drama in this household. Both good and bad. While Hadley loves to be the center of attention in a room of people, Lillian loves to perform. I hope it isn't just a phase. It's fun to watch. The only downside is that usually these parts of their personalities hit their peak right around bedtime...

First Haircut

2007-11-08T15:24:00.001-07:00

Seth had his first haircut the other day. He didn't complain a bit. But who would when you're eating your first sucker ever?

Yes, we're still here...

2007-11-08T14:51:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a while since I posted. Sorry.

Show's over!! I'll get pictures up soon. We are keeping busy still. After Sleepy Hollow finished I crashed for a little while and then started saying "yes" to everything that was asked of me. As a result my holiday season is quite filled up. But people are always asking me to do things I love so it's hard to say no! Dave's busy too with lots going on at the conference center and tabernacle during the holiday season.

We've been dealing with a little flu. Seth's had it and now it looks like Hadley's got it. We'll survive. I don't know if my car will though. I calculated that since April my Van has been thrown up in nine times. How disgusting is that? Seth gets carsick on long drives so that has been most of it. We thought it'd be nice to drive the Alpine Loop a few weeks ago with the family. Got about 1/4 of the way before he threw up. Poor guy. Puts a little bit of a damper in any travel plans....

We've had very warm weather lately. Kids have had fun playing in our leaf piles. Everyone's doing great in school . Hadley's teacher said she is a big help in class. Lillian's making friends on her own without her sister for the first time. It's so good for her. She has quite the hilarious sense of humor when she's not busy whining and crying about something. I really can't believe she's going to be in Kindergarten next year. Seth finally started walking. He's almost 16 months. He loves to dance and has to move anytime he hears music. He can say peeka peeka (peekaboo), baba (bottle), bye-bye, mama, & dada. Lots of other words, but just can't figure out what they are yet!

That's all for now!

2007-09-11T21:23:00.000-06:00

David chipped his tooth at work the other day. I told him it was amazing how much a missing tooth (or a partially missing one in his case) affected how intelligent one looked. Thus, his expression in the picture.

He's got a temporary in right now and is supposed to get it permanently fixed in a couple weeks. Thank goodness for workers' comp.

First Day of School!

2007-09-11T21:04:00.000-06:00

So I promise a new camera is on order from Costco!!! Should be here any day and we can join the land of the living in crystal clear digital photos! These are pictures of the girls' first day of school--1st grade and pre-school. Lillian just had to include her "Little Lamby" that she got with her birthday money (thanks Grandparents for the b-day money!)

They are both loving school. I think Lillian would do fine in an every day pre-school if there was one (that I could afford). The first day of school she basically kept trying to push me out of her face when I tried to say goodbye and give her a kiss. Got the hint. She was ready to be on her own...

I also started school last week! I'm a teacher at Elite Academy. (No more cleaning for me :-) It's basically a tiny private school with six kids--most of them siblings and cousins. They range in age from 9-12. I teach writing, literature, and world history. It's a real shift for me to teach anything other than music or drama. It's so different. But I'm slowly getting the hang of it. Tomorrow is only my fourth day teaching because I teach three days a week.

My other baby right now is the production I'm directing. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in Concert!! I'm loving it! But teaching, directing, being in the Relief Society Presidency, and singing in a choir in Salt Lake has me running a little crazy right now. But rehearsals for Sleepy Hollow are running fabulously. We have an amazing cast and choir and it's going to look beautiful in the outdoor amphitheatre in American Fork. Check out our website http://www.sleepyhollowshow.com/

Well, that's long enough for now!

Seth

2007-09-11T20:50:00.001-06:00

Here is our little man. He loves hats and tries to put them on every time he runs across them. He's been walking a little bit this week, but only on his terms. Still crawls 98% of the time. Won't do it if we try to get him to. He's an incredibly fast crawler--why walk?

First post ever!

2007-04-01T20:52:00.000-06:00

Well, here I am starting my own blog. Don't know when I'll actually get around to posting pictures. Maybe tomorrow, maybe not! I do think that if I can make it work it would be a great way to keep a journal going of my family, and to share with other family and friends what's been going on lately with us. So stay tuned! You may just see another post sooner than later!