Jackson's New Trick

Twilight Trailer

is it december yet???




*thanks for the link, mom!

Ain't It The Truth

*an excerpt from Mormon Mommy Wars

"I’m no scrapbooker, but that’s mostly because I’m lazy and not very artistic. I know women who have made phenomenal scrapbooks for their children, and not because they are motivated by some sort of crazy Mormon guilt scrapbooking gene, but because *gasp*, they enjoy it. Yeah, this is unfathomable to me, right up there with people who take a break from blogging to sew stuff .

But in scrapbooks, there are no pictures of poop. There are no pictures of dirty, grubby children, unless you are pointing out how completely cute they are covered in food in their high chair, or how much fun they had playing in the mud. In scrapbooking, everybody is well dressed, happy, and having a great time.

In blogging, children finger paint with poop from their own diapers, spread it all over their faces, and feed it to the dog. If the kids are covered in food, it’s a good bet that the mom is too, and that mud pie? Well, let’s just say an apple pie might be nicer to the carpet.
Basically, scrapbooks are there to show you the shiny stuff. Blogging is there to show you the poop.
Here a few scenarios I’ve whipped up to further illustrate my point. Feel free to add your own:


A day at the beach:
Scrapbook: Little Sister had a great time at the beach! She laughed at the water, waved at the seagulls, and thought digging in the sand was so fun! A great family bonding moment.

Blog post: Little Sister ate about 3 pounds of sand, got some in her eyes, and cried all the way home.

Learning to walk:
Scrapbook: Our little girl is growing so fast! Look at her standing up by herself–she’s such a little doll!

Blog post: She climbed up the stairs without me knowing, tripped on her own feet, tumbled to the landing below and got a bruise on her head. At the grocery store, everybody thinks I’m a child abuser.

Playing with her older brother:
Scrapbook: Little Sister just LOVES her older brother Jay! They laugh and play together like they’ve been friends forever. It’s so nice to have them getting along!

Blogging: Jay gets really bugged when his baby sister tries to play with his toys, and has taken to poking her in the stomach with his stocking feet to keep her away from his Legos.

Family togetherness:
Scrapbook: I love my kids–they are such a blessing! I can’t imagine life without them.

Blogging: Remember when we used to sleep? That was the sweet life.

Do you agree with this assessment about blogging? Is this why we blog, to see that there are messier parts of life that don’t get put in the scrapbook?

Please discuss.

Whoa.

*I'm not posting this to stir up "hate mail" or push political views on anyone. Everyone's entitled to their own views, and I'm sure there are videos out there about all the candidates. I just thought this one was very interesting {and eye-opening}.

Dancing Queen

Yesterday was Kensie's last dance class for the year. Her teacher this year {Ms. Francesca} has been amazing! Kensie's learned so much. They will have their final concert on May 10th, and their dance is cool and pretty advanced for 1st graders! Ms. Francesca wants Kensie to try out for CDT {childrens dance theatre} next year & Kensie really wants to do it. We'll see if she makes it {& if we can afford to do it!}. It will be an amazing experience for her and I hope she gets to do it. I have so many great memories from my dancing years, and I hope Kensie will get to make lots of her own!

{I tried to upload some video but it's not working at the moment- I'll try again later, so check back}

Eleven Months Old

I can't believe that my baby's almost a year old! He is such a good kid. He is still not walking {out of sheer stubbornness}, but that's fine by me. Here are some things he loves to do as of late:

• be outside
• eat {what's new?!}
• play with his brother and sister
• wave
• clap
• bite whatever he can with his 6 teeth
• cuddle {love it that he still does this!}
• play with my hair
• show everyone that he's Number One {see pic}
• grunt and squeal when he doesn't get his way
• stand up on his own
• laugh at silly faces
• climb on, in, & up whatever he can
• wrestle with daddy
  
  

Chillin' on the grass at the gardens

Having a tea party with Lincoln

standing up

just playing {pardon the nose treats}

climbing the stairs

"I made it!"

"Whoa, that's a LONG way down!"

"I'm Number One!"

More News on the Plastic Bottle front

I read some more interesting news about the whole plastic fiasco {mainly baby bottles}. go here to read more if you're interested.....

I'm IT

Tagged by Alayna:

A: Attached or Single? Happily Attached
B: Best Friend? Matt
C: Cake or Pie? Cake, unless it's made by The Piemaker :)
D: Day of Choice? Saturday (or whatever day Matt has off)
E: Essential Item? computer, with diaper bag coming in a close second
F: Favorite Color? Purple
G: Gummi Bears or Worms? Worms- more to chew!
H: Hometown? Cottonwood Heights, UT
I: Indulgence(s)? sleeping in {never happens}, going out to eat {rarely happens}, watching "my" shows {happens more now thanks to the DVR}
J: January or July? July
K: Kids? Love 'em!
L: Life is incomplete without? Family, friends, books, and some good food.
M: Marriage Date? June 29, 1999
N: Number of Siblings? 2 younger {twin} brothers
O: Oranges or Apples? Apples- especially if they're "Jazz" apples {recently discovered at my neighborhood grocer}
P: Phobias or Fears? anyone know the phobia term for the fear of debt?!
Q: Quote(s)? see sidebar for my recent favs
R: Reason to Smile? Three words: Kensie, Lincoln, Jackson
S: Season? Autumn
T: Tag Six? if you're reading this & you haven't already done it, consider yourself tagged
U: Unknown Fact About Me? I used to put on "shows" {with my friend, Andrea} for the neighborhood. Dancing, singing, you name it- we did it! Some numbers included Michael Jackson's "Beat It", and "So Long, Farewell" from the Sound Of Music.
V: Veggies or Fruit? It's a tie
W: Worst Habit? Picking things up with my feet so I don't have to bend over
X: X-rays or Ultrasounds? Ultrasounds- I'd rather look at cute babies than broken bones
Y: Your Favorite Food? WAAAAAY too hard to pick a fav
Z: Zodiac? Virgo

My Neighborhood Grocer

This post is a testament to how truly pathetic my life has become:

Our Harmons opened today! Hallelujah! The kids & I went to check it out today and it did not disappoint. Pretty sad that I get so excited about a grocery store, but I've been eagerly anticipating this for months. Artisan breads, international cheeses, gelato bar, gourmet olive bar, market bistro, cooking school & free fruit for the kids- how could I NOT be excited? I'm also diggin' the drive n' load idea. We even got to meet Bob :)

Goodbye, Albertsons. I will not miss you.

The Apostle Song

We learned the Apostle Song for FHE last week. Kensie learned it so fast, and now she dances around the house singing it non-stop! Lincoln gets as far as Thomas S. Monson & he's done, but whenever Kensie sings it he says "Mom, that prophet song is beautiful". We tried to get Kensie to perform it yesterday for the home teachers but she was too shy. She did sing it for G-ma & G-pa Young and Spencer & Andrea, who were very impressed :)