Picture Perfect

This picture is so cute. She was actually in trouble (I don't remember why) and I made her sit on her bed. I guess she must have gotten bored, because she decided to try on Eliza's pajama pants and that was just exhausting, so here we are ten minutes later when I came in!
She wants to do everything that Eliza does, from going to the bathroom at the same time (her and Jessica too) to falling asleep at the same time. Eliza now has a fan club and Emma is the president. :]

Almost walking!

Olivia has been pulling herself up on anything she can get her hands on. She's found that when it has wheels, it's a little harder! She is determined to get it right though. We'll see when those first steps come!

I was looking in my photo album and I found this one of Emma and Zane when we went to Anthem Mall. They are so funny together!

Zane never looks at the camera when I tell them to say "cheese"

And Emily is yelling at Zane right now...I forgot why.

Memories.....

A couple days ago Thomas and Paul were asking me if I remembered fun things that Mom & Dad did for us and I didn't remember any of them!
Like taking us to McDonald's late at night for ice cream cones in the VW bus we had. ( 0-55 in 11 minutes, I remember that bumper sticker!)
I think maybe because they are younger, I was in my "I hate the world 'cause I'm a teenager, so I didn't really care about stupid ice cream" phase.
Again, sorry Mom & Dad. 12 kids, 12 teenagers. They deserve to go straight to the celestial kingdom for that.
So they were asking me if I remembered all these things that as they were telling me, I just thought, that's not really a big deal. But then I started remembering stuff from when I was little.

Dad used to throw Otter Pops in the pool during the summer.
Mom putting on a summer olympics to keep us busy (I don't remember ever winning anything)Vacuuming my sisters hair up.....she was bald for a couple months. haha just kidding.
It was an ACCIDENT, I tell you!
Playing in the rain on the way home from school.....and then getting fussed at. It was totally worth it every time.
Going out to dinner. I'm sure with 12 kids we looked like a school field trip.
I remember the "old school" ice cream. Dad used to take us in the back of his pickup and get Thrifty's ice cream at the store.
LOTS of broken bones! Emily smashing her finger in the door, John smashing his hand (I think)
breaking my leg and arm.
And that's not even half of it, right Mom?!
"Winning" fun shirts and odds and ends from Dad's work. It really was winning. You better believe with 12 kids that everyone wanted the same shirt. We got to pick a number, it was like the Lottery.
Anyway, it just got me thinking about all the fun things that I remember growing up and since I've been married.
Edwin is the worst because he doesn't remember anything so I say "Awww, Remember when...." and he says...."That wasn't me".
It drives me nuts.
I think it does good to look back every once in a while on the fun times we had....it give us hope for the future.

My favorite word: "Dark-thirty"

I'm a night person. Always have been. Always will be. I like sitting up late when everyone is sleeping and doing whatever I want. Like watching my shows, doing a craft, catching up on scrapbooking or making cards, reading, blogging, playing games on the computer....etc. (it's all on a list so I won't forget)
BUT (gosh, there's always a 'but' huh?) like every single mom in this entire world, I gotta work for that peace and quiet.
Anyone with kids knows it takes at least an hour to convince them that they have to go to sleep. Emma is in her arguing phase (oh please I hope it's a phase!) and right before bed, I hear all the excuses of why she can't sleep.
"I'm not tired" -too bad "I want a story" -nope already had a story "I have to brush my teeth" -nope already did "I have to go to the bathroom" -ok, I give into this one, I don't want to do extra laundry or clean up the mess
The list goes on........
And then there's Olivia. We are now approaching her teeth actually pushing through the gums, so it's just a party trying to get her to fall asleep at night. And sometimes when I am going "YAY, she went to sleep without a fight" she wakes up and I start all over again. And then at this point Emma comes in and sings to her or tells me what to do and how to take care of her and what Olivia really wants......I'm sure I never did that, right Mom?

So now you can see why I love my nights. No stress....well, after I get them to sleep.
No "I wanna watch my show" Or "Mom, I spilled"
Come on, I'm not the only mom, I'm sure everyone can think of a million things their kids say that you just don't want to hear. And it's always at the worst possible moment. Ice cream bowl in hand and they've just told you they pooped all over the place. One time I'd just like to say "Not it" and eat my ice cream.

And here I am on my night talking about all the things I'm trying to forget.
They are sleeping and I'm wasting my time...

I'm going to watch my shows.

The Blue Tree

At church today I talked with Pam, the mom of the little boy who asked for the blue tree. She was cracking up about the blue tree thing at the party, and I guess when they got home they asked him why he wanted a "blue tree".
Apparently, he said "blue treat".
My sister-in-law is gonna die.

What have I done??

Last night at our ward Halloween party I volunteered to do face painting. I know you are all laughing at me for taking that on....come on, who volunteers right?
It sure was an interesting night. I had one little boy who was all dressed in camoflauge ask me to draw a army guy on his face. Uh, stick figure ok? Nope. He walked away quite upset. Sorry guys, I'm not a professional!
There was another little boy that asked for a blue tree. ??? He was dressed up as the devil.....I'm not sure where he got "blue tree"? But we were cracking up about that one for a while.
There was another little boy (what is it with these boys?!) that asked for a flashlight. Maybe he forgot his at home? After some convincing, he ended up with a bat. :] I'm a party pooper, I know.
Muriel helped me with some of the face painting, and she got the little boy that asked for a blue tree. She was worried that the mother was looking at her like she was crazy....haha she probably was! :]
By far, the little girls were the easiest. Butterfly. Flower. Star. But one little girl asked for a Black Widow. Uh, I don't even know what the looks like or how it looks any different than a "regular" halloween spider.....and that's what I told her. Of course then she explained to me how to draw a black widow.....bascially, a "regular" spider with a red dot in the middle. :]
These kids were fun. Some were silly and some were sassy. Some were girly and some were puzzling. Some were total boys and some were surprising. Some knew exactly what they wanted and some sat and thought for a while.
It really was a lot of fun being with them......I think I just may volunteer next year. ;]

Let's ask Mr. Webster.....

Edwin and I were laughing about this earlier and I just had to share it.
I'm sure all parents can relate to having their children spout off words that make absolutely no sense....and if you aren't a parent, I'm sure your nieces, nephews, cousins and even strangers have stumped you with the made up words they come up with to express how they are feeling.

Emma's famous phrase came about a year ago when she was crying because "Something cautched [kaw - ched] me" it's still cracking us up.
Jessica's phrase: "Just munk it"which is so funny. It almost sounds like an Oreo advertisment or maybe sports?
And of course Joshua's word: "But-e-cause" which translates to "because". That one cracks me up, especially in his deep voice.
Zane's phrase that he always says to everyone: "Nnnn you doing" asking "what are you doing" and he usually starts in the middle of the sentence. I asked Emily what his words are, and she said everything out of his mouth has his own little twist.
Ashley & Hannah have their own language that is still to be determined by linguists! ;] Just Kidding. I know everytime Ashley sees Olivia, she says "See's cute" with her cute little smile!
I'm sure sure Julia's anxious to hear what Hailey comes up with!

And that's our kids guys....this Christmas I'm putting it on T-shirts and they can wear them....and by they, I mean Joe, John, Edwin & Craig.
That'll be a good picture right? :]

It's the TOOTH FAIRY!!

It's the Tooth Fairy!
I just loved Alisa's costume...she should have won at the party.....and Dad's chili too!

AZ State Fair

As you can tell, she was a little uneasy at first, and then she jumped right into feeding the goats.

Dirty hands!

Emma & Zane

Dollar Day at the Fair

Here Emma is riding on the teacups. Don't ask me what she's doing because I have no idea,

I asked her to say 'Cheese' and she came up with this.
Weirdo.

Take a good look.....

I am not one of those moms that will give my kids anything to eat (in the sticky & messy category) in the high chair and deal with the clean up later.....however, I am a mom who will do that as I'm walking out the door to let Edwin deal with it! :]

So take a good look because I don't know when this will happen again!
(By the way, she's eating a twizzler)

Featuring...."Kid's say the darndest things" (without Bill Cosby)

Tonight we were reading the Book of Mormon stories (the ones with pictures). The story we read was about Captain Moroni & the Nephites fighting the Lamanites....the Lamanites wanted to make the Nephites their slaves. As Edwin was reading it, I stopped him and asked Emma if she knew what a slave was....to which she responded "Oh yeah it's for when we go to the snow"
After we stopped laughing and wiping our eyes, we explained that it's a "sleigh" we use in the snow and a "slave" is someones servant unwillingly.
Ah, it was too funny.
I wonder what she was thinking before we explained it.....I guess they had sleighs back then?
I need to write a book.

Oh, the matching days have begun!

I found cute little matching shirts at Target and of course I couldn't resist the urge to buy them and have them both match! They are adorable.

My new favorite thing!

After doing my daily update with Jess' blog, I found in the corner of her blog something I've been trying to find for some time now. After to going to the craft fair with Christi, I was inspired to create my own little creations that (no offense) are OVERPRICED!!! :] And I found a blog that gives you the FREE instructions on how to home make your own bows with ribbon. I can't tell you how excited I am! I started first by buying this big flower at Micheals, it was on sale and I just added it to "alligator clips" that I bought at Sally's Beauty Supply for $2.00 (12 pack)


This one actually came out weird and I don't like it. I thought it was just ordinary ribbon, but it has adhesive on the back and so when I did this one it stuck together too much. Oh well, you have to mess up a couple times in order to master the art!
AH! This is my favorite one that I am SOOOO excited about! I don't know how long they will post the free instructions so hurry and go to Ribbon Retreat to find out how to make it! (Of course their's is cuter!) It's so cute, and even I made it right on the first try!
That website has other cute bows to make with ribbon too!

Pigtails 101...I need to enroll!!!

This one was kind of a mess! It really isn't supposed to look like this...I guess it's my own invention, but I like the way the blog did it better! I just couldn't figure out how she did it at the time! Now I realize how she did it and maybe next time it will work! Emma likes doing her hair in pigtails, so I am practicing with the pigtails these days!

Olivia's snack time

We have started getting Olivia the finger foods and she is loving them. We started getting them because she would try to grab our food, and her baby food. I think she just wanted to hold it herself!
So here she is enjoying her little biter biscuit. The pictures all have her holding the biscuit, but I was having to grab it every 5 seconds when she'd hang it over the high chair so she wouldn't drop it on the floor!
Smiles :]
Her hair looks really red here.....and those blue eyes.

I finally found it!!!!!

I've been looking forever.....actually no, I've really just been sitting around wondering how you make actual cloth ribbon curl. And I'm so happy to say I've found out how! I found this blog that shows you how and I'm so excited. Now I wonder how long it will take me to actually do it! :] I'm wanting to (now that I have a new hobby) learn how to make my own hair ribbons, ties, scrunchies, etc. And I'm one step in that direction thanks to this blog!

My new Hobby.....

My new hobby is playing with Emma's hair. I've found really cute blogs that show you how. This one I made up this morning in a rush to get to church on time. It only took about 10 minutes.....(honestly it took me longer to figure out what bows would work best with her dress!!) These pictures are of what's left of the hair style, after a nap, running around all day, nursery kids (cuz you know the little girls had to have touched it) it didn't really survive, but I forgot to take the picture as soon as I was done.....had to get to church on time so this time it's ok!I just did 3 pony tails, pulled them through and then braided. I then pulled it on the side in a bun.

Pretty easy, huh?

Edwin's Birthday

Olivia and Grandpa Edwin at Chili's on Edwin's birthday......boy did she wiggle the whole time we were there, we each had to keep taking turns holding her she was so wiggly!
It was a fun treat to get to go out to lunch....THANKS to everyone who came and paid for it! :] I guess she can stop wiggling if we want to take her picture though!

That's a bright cake there.....and he's still young!

Hair styles......

I found a really cute hair blog and some of the hair-dos looked so cute and kind of easy, so I held my breath and just tried it. Not too many screams from Emma, so it actually turned out good!
(I must add that they don't look as good as hers, but it's close enough for me!)

This one was pretty hard to make Emma sit still for so long since she has SO much hair!

This one I did for church today and it was so easy and she said it didn't hurt her.
Oh and I didn't take a picture of the bobby pins, but you just tie little ribbon around the end of it and Viola!

Edwin and Emma

Edwin cut his cargo pants to make shorts and apparently the scraps were put to use!

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Football......tackle football?

You'd think that Joshua would have introduced "tackle football"........nope it was Emma & Jessica! Those girls were after that ball and poor Joshua was in the middle! Ok, say CHEESE! Say CHEESE!! Hello??
Ok whoever smiles get a treat! I guess that's the way to every kids' heart huh?

Joshua has this look like "when is it my turn"?? Stinkin' girls! Forget that.....I'm going after the ball!
Uh-oh! I don't like where this is headed!

Abuelito Felix y Abuelita Maria

We just loved visiting with Edwin's grandparents.
They are so sweet and we are so glad they can come and visit every summer.
(Uh-oh, I have another one that wants to be the center of attention!) This picture was taken when they first got here to AZ in May.
Olivia-our little peanut, just a couple months old.
Abuelito Felix
I love her cute little face! Of course she's grabbing at her little toes.

Abuelita Maria They all have such pretty smiles....except Olivia.