SANDBOX

We have had our sandbox now for a few weeks and I'm starting to rethink the whole idea now that it's too late.

I am finding sand everywhere and I'm getting so tired of it!

But the kids LOVE it and have a blast in it with all their friends, whose moms love it too, I'm sure.

John painted the top and wanted the kids to paint it and put their handprints on it, which they loved, and it turned out to be such a great masterpeice.

Annie just wanted to paint herself.

Hiking the Y

For as long as we went to BYU and lived near the Y, we had never taken the kids to climb it. They had been begging and asking for years and we figured that since Labor Day was a good day off that was a fun thing to do together. John took them, along with our neighbors, The Cutler's, who are like our 2nd family, and they all had a great time.

I unfortunately had the terrible job of staying here with Annie. It was quiet. :)

Co Pitcho!!

This is what Annie says whenever she wants to "color a picture". She loves to draw and color and will sit with a pen and paper and be happy for a long time.

However, sometimes she doesn't quite make it to the paper and just gets the pen (or chapstick) and draws on whatever she can find.

Sister Love

Even thought quite often Annie is a nightmare and constantly a tease, she really loves her sisters. She loves to wave goodbye to them when they leave on the bus every day and she loves to have them come play with her and she says, "C'mon Baggie" or "C'mon Dosie" as she motions for them to come with her hand. And sometimes it makes me happy to hear her scream at someone else instead of always just at me. They take really good care of her and I appreciate their help so much.
I know that they love her because with her birthday coming up on 9-17 I woke up from my Sunday nap to find this:

They both worked really hard on it and it turned out so cute. And more importantly, they worked together. So as much as they may fight and disagree, I know that they have in common the love they share for their baby sister and I thought it was sweet.

Be Inspired ...

"Be Inspired" was the theme chosen for the Timpanogos Half Marathon I ran on July 30th. I was able to do it with my good friend and neighbor and a couple of her friends, and being with them I was truly inspired. We worked hard, had some really early mornings for long runs, and were able to hit some good milestones together. It felt so good to train for something I thought I'd never be able to do and everytime I was able to complete a long run I felt so good and strong.
They day of the race was lovely and running down American Fork Canyon was peaceful and beautiful and I felt so good. Coming downhill was hard on my knees and by mile 10 I had a really hard time running, so I walked for a couple miles and then finished strong the last mile. I couldn't walk for a couple of days I was so sore, but it was definately worth it. I'm so glad that I did it and I may even do it again next year!

Quick story ... on one of my long runs I was going to do it by myself on a Saturday morning at 5:30 and John decided he would come with me. I plugged in my headphones and started running and he followed behind me on his bike carrying gatorade, and whatever else he thought I may need. It took almost 2 hours and he didn't have his ipod and stayed behind me for 10 miles. I know it sounds crazy, but that was one of the nicest things he's ever done for me. Just something I will never forget about this race.

The other thing I will never forget is that my mom called the day before and asked if I wanted her to come and when I said yes she didn't even hesitate but jumped in her car and came. It was so good of her to do because I'm sure she had plenty of other ways to spend her Saturday. So she was a big help while I was so sore and was able to take pictures.

Matchy-Matchy

I love when my girls match! I sewed these dresses for them and they turned out perfect!
I got the ruffle fabric from quilt market and only 1 yard made all their dresses. It is so easy to sew with that I'd love to buy some to use for other projects ... I just don't know what yet!

Arisa's Quilt

I made this quilt for my very sweetest friend that moved a couple weeks ago. I knew when she told me she was going to leave that I was going to make her a quilt to take with her. It's been a long time since I've sat down and sewn, and this one was set at turbo speed! One of my other friends did the sweetest things ever and quilted it for me on her MIL's long-arm. It turned out just beautiful, which is all I can really say about it. I am super proud of it and love it and every stitch was made with nothing but love (and a couple of cuss words inbetween ...)!!




I made these pillows for her sweet kids, who were my kids' besties. Sad for all of us!! There was a third pillow, but Josie wouldn't let go if it long enough before she gave it away for me to snap a picture.

FIRST DAY ... HOORAY!!

This school year really snuck up on me, I didn't keep track of days in August at all and it really came quick! I was sad for maybe the first time ever to see my kids go! It may be just because that leaves me at home with Annie all.alone. With no kid helpers at all. What will I do?
Not really, we had a great summer-- guess how many pictures I have to show for it? Zero, Zilch, Nuthin. Oh well, I'm pretty sure we had fun.
The weather has been beautiful and I hope it stays nice for a really long time!

Maggie wears a cupcake shirt every first day of school, its kind of a tradition now, and I'll let her for as many years as she'll keep wearing one!!





Annie seriously tried to sneak on the bus today with Josie, and I almost just let her. She would've loved it, too bad she has awhile (4 years) before its her turn, not that I'm counting ...

Have a FLIPPIN' awesome summer!

Here is a cute craft I made with Josie & Maggie for their friends for the end of the school year.

ZOO!!

Josie's preschool last year was themed on the zoo so at the end of the year I got to accompany her and her friends from her class to the zoo. Taking Annie places always stresses me out, if you knew her you'd know why ... so I'm grateful I got to spend the day with a couple of my friends too that were a big help. Good company always makes everything better! We had a great day and I'm so glad for the time that I get to spend with my kids and their friends and I am extremely grateful for the neighborhood we live in and all the good kids (and moms) that live in it, what a bonus!

Recitals, Programs, Graduations ... OH MY!!

Don't fall off your chair or anything, but I am actually going to update my blog! I'm SO far behind that I haven't been sure whether to go back and blog about everything that I've missed or just skip the past few months and start from NOW. I figured that I have too many things that I missed that I want documented, so be prepared for picture overload!


At the end of the semester the girls' dance studio put together a recital. It was so great! My good friend taught Josie and all her little friends, arent' they adorable???

Maggie loved dance so much she decided to try out for the competition team. We're in for a real treat this upcoming year because she made it and will be eating, breathing, and sleeping "dance" for a long time! It's been exciting to see the progress she's made and she has some sweet girls on her team that she loves and she's having a great time.

The 4th grade put on a program at the end of the year and it was fun to go watch. And hard to get a good picture. The kids are still at an age that they really got into learning the songs and being good performers. I'm sure it won't be long before they are way to cool to do such a thing. But for now ...

Josie also graduated from Preschool (again). She had an amazing teacher and she learned SO much!! She was able to go with a couple of her sweet friends. I enjoyed driving carpool so much with those girls, they had the best conversations ever. I'm pretty sure they were 5 going on 15, it was great.

Lots more to come ... stay tuned!