Monday, December 20, 2010

A late update

Here are some fun pictures of Thanksgiving and visiting Grandpa and Grandma Moulton for Christmas. For some reason I don't have hardly any good pictures of Russ. His face is always turned or hidden.





Amity is 10 months here, and she took her first steps this month. She is almost 11 months now and isn't full blown walking yet, but definitely taking little baby steps between mom and dad. And she walks like a pro when you hold her hand. This is her with Grandpa Moulton.




This picture reminds me so much of one of Travis when he was a baby. I can see both of us in her, but certain facial expressions remind me of one or the other. This is more like Travis because my serious faces always had a nice deep scowl.



She is such a happy little girl. We love her so much.



And here is one of the only pics we got of our little Russ. He's in his new church clothes that he got for Christmas. Thanks, Grandma M.!



Amity is an early talker. She has really surprised us by how early she is saying words, and we can really understand her. So far she has said:
-mommy, mama *
-daddy, dada*
-hi* (while waving)
-bye* (while waving)
-mmmmm (referring to food that she is eating)
-kiss
-no
-baby
-yay!!
-and I SWEAR she said banana

The words with the stars she says all the time. She even puts bye and dada together and says bye dada! She said that to me the other day and I had to remind her that I am mama. It is so cute when she crawls all over the house looking for her daddy yelling his name as she goes. She is usually whining when she says mama because she is hungry or wants to be picked up. She hasn't said Russ yet, at least not that I could make out, but I think she is trying.



She is our little bundle of joy, such a people person, and so funny. Love you, Amity. What a fun holiday with our little sweeties.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Halloween and such...



Russell stuck his hand on the hot stove and burned it pretty badly. Well, he learned his lesson I guess. The little stinker. This picture doen't even show the other two fingers.



Amity was a cute little cow for Halloween.




Russell was a super-hero.



Mity is starting to balance without holding on to anything. She is getting ready to walk. What a sweetie!






Russell has been really into tricks lately. He can do a flip on the tramp and the other day he actually did an aerial type thing. We were pretty impressed. But he did fall on his head a couple of times, so we told him that trick might be a little too advanced for him yet.


Russell has been saying a lot of funny things lately. The other day when we were at the fabric store, I let him sit at the catalog table and talk to another little boy while I browsed. Well, right as I was walking by, I heard him say, "I don't have a mother or a sister." Well, that is just great. Amity and I had been disowned, and we were in the same room as him!! And then the boy asked if he had any brothers, and Russ of course answered, "Yeah. 26 of them." His imaginary brothers are really getting on my nerves lately.

Then later at my dad's house, my dad popped out with his beloved Boise State hat on and said, "Russ! Look at my awesome hat!! The Boise State Broncos!!" And Russell said, "Grandpa, you are OBSESSED with that hat." I didn't even know he knew that word. We really have to watch it because he listens to every word we say!

Friday, October 29, 2010

Fall Fun





































Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Why I have been such a bad blogger lately. (I DO have a good excuse.)

I'll tell you why. Because I have been on a business venture of my own. I've started a little preschool in my home.

There was a perfect little room down in the basement. (That is part of the reason we went with this house instead of getting a smaller apartment.

I've named it Pumpkin Patch Preschool. If you can't guess, it's because I love fall, pumpkins, Halloween and all of that sooooo much that I decided I wanted to think about it all year.

I have really missed teaching since I've started staying home, and this gives me the perfect little fix. It is only twice a week for 2 1/2 hours, and gives me just the right creative outlet. Plus it brings in a little extra money each month.



I know it's not super fancy or anything. But I think it is pretty good since I'm just starting out. It takes time to build up your stuff and get things just how you want them. This is my little reading corner. And I use those clothespins to hang up pictures. I had these chairs in my classroom when I taught second grade.



Here is my table (Thanks, Cuz!!). And you can also see my word wall.



Centers. Games. Art supplies.




And here we have circle time. Travis made the white board. And yes, I made the lovely curtains. The chair I got at D.I. for $2. I spraypainted it and made it nice again. It was pretty beat up.

Anyway, so now you know what I have been up to. It takes some time to write lesson plans and make all the materials. Next year it won't be nearly as stressful because I can use my stuff from the previous year.

I am so glad that I had the guts to do the preschool. I almost didn't do it just because I was scared. I wanted to, but it is scary putting yourself out there and advertising and all that. But I talked to a lot of other ladies that were doing it, many of them without a teaching degree or anything, and I thought, "Why couldn't I do that if they can. That's what I got my degree in, right?" Anyway. It took some courage, and I had to go into it with the attitude that I might fail, but that I would at least learn something in the process that would make me a more competant person.




Awesome craigslist finds. The bed frame and the bedding. Russ loves them!!




Daddy's static electricity experiment.





We made these!!!! This one is mine. I found the tutorial here.



It was so fun! It cost about seven dollars for all three. Get the material at Home Depot.





Amity has two teeth. They are so cute.




Kay, so these pictures are way out of order. Oh well, I'm not switching them around. It takes too long.



My new pet spider. Trav made the web on our front porch. We want to make the trick-or-treaters squeal!!!






Awwww....

Amity has been standing up and walking around household items for about two months now. She should be walking fairly soon.



Mom is getting back into her excercise routines. (About time.) She's got to lose the rest of that baby weight. (It would help if I would stop making cake balls.)



At the Utah State Fair.




Big horsey.




A true cougar fan. Don't pay attention to the face.



Mitty crawled in but couldn't get back out. Look at her teethy little grin.


Well, that's what we have been up to. Preschool is settling in now, so hopefully I will be a better blogger. Please, don't give up on me yet!!!!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Some New Family Pictures

We recently got our pictures taken...by a pro!!! First time ever!! We have NEVER paid to get them taken before. All of our pictures are done by Travis or I, severe ameteurs. Actually, we didn't have to pay for these either because we have really, REALLY nice people in our ward back in Yakima that bought us a surprise photo session at a ward auction a while back. Seriously the nicest family ever!!!

These are a few of my favs.



Aren't my boys so cute!



Trying to get Mity to smile.



Mother daughter shot.




My handsome hubby and I.








Raspberries.



We scheduled the shoot right during Mity's nap, which is really too bad, because she is usually way more smiley than this. But that is okay. We got some cute shots of her anyway.



There's a hint of a smile. (Note to self: ALWAYS schedule photo shoots as soon after naps as possible.)


Awww...brother-sister love.



My sweet boy is getting so big.



He is only 3, but I swear he acts like he is 5. He says the darndest things. Today at a little neighborhood get-together, I went to check on him and found him wrestling (VERY aggressively I might add) with three six-year-olds. At first I was worried about him because they were all ganging up on him, and it was pretty rough. But I just let them continue when I realized that he was the aggressor and they were all having tons of fun. A couple of the other boys were yelling, "Hey, you little guy! Let go of my friend!"
Anyway, he has been obsessed with death and blood lately. Today he asked me, "Mom, do your bones have blood in them? Or is the blood just outside of your bones?" A little creeeeepy if you ask me.

Friday, August 13, 2010

We are BACK in the blogging world!

So, I'm just doing all my catching up at once, so scroll down to see all my new posts.


(and you can stop complaining now, Amy!)


Well, we left our beloved Yakima and moved A LOT closer to home. We sure do miss our wonderful ward, our friends, and all of the delicious fruit, but it is so nice to be closer to family.


I've had lots of people wonder why I have not announced where we moved to on this blog...SERIOUSLY, people!!! Haven't you ever watched any documenaries on serial killers?! They are watching you when you least expect it, like right NOW!!! You have to be on your guard at all times!


Let's just say, I am pretty darn close to home, where ever that may be.




A family picture a week or so before moving.





Spending time with our good buddies, the Lichfields. Saying goodbye to them was the hardest part of all.



My best chum, Kathy.



Grant was like a brother to him. He talks about him all the time.




The family reading a bed-time story in Yakima.




Booger bubbles!!!




After church pictures.


Now that we have moved, Travis follows doctors around pretending to be one of them. Sometimes when we are arguing he says, "Did you go to med school?" Seriously overconfident, right?
My beloved brother, Jason and I and Mitty.

Russell's cousin, Josh. Popcicles on a hot summer day...mmmmm...



Josh again.

And look who came to visit!!! Yay!!! Our goodest Yakima friends!

The beauty of a house with a nice, big backyard.
Miss you Lichfields and Yakima 2nd ward!!! Hope you are all doing well!