fun times in the lives of...

2011-12-12T12:34:00.000-08:00

My sister Kate flew up to join me for the opening night of BREAKING DAWN!!!

I know, sounds silly, but I needed an excuse to see her and we were both huge fans of the books when they came out! So we got dolled up, left the kiddos at home, and went to the theater for a big pre-show exclusive party and had an absolute blast!!!

Wish I had more pictures, but I don't.

Cam dog

2011-12-12T12:20:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Cameron! We opened presents first thing in the morning...

Here are a few pics from Cameron's birthday (november 5th). He had his final soccer game, which they WON! Biggest rivals of the season and best game to watch! Cam topped it off with two goals (go cameron!) and lots of smiles!

He took a few friends to an indoor trampoline center, where he had a blast, and then came home and topped off his birthday night with a date with mom and dad, and two of his favorite friends, to RED LOBSTER!

Happy 4th Birthday Janie

2011-11-04T17:02:00.000-07:00

Jane was SO cute on her birthday. Just saying she is four has helped her grow up a bit. She hasn't thrown as many fits, and when she does I remind her she is 4 and she snaps out of it much faster. She is such an angel girl, so loving to her sister (even when Paige could care less and pushes her away). She shares everything with Paige and just loves her brothers too. She will be my sweet girl who will always love hugs and snuggles. She was my greatest surprise after years of wanting a baby!

I think Paige enjoyed jane's birthday presents more than Jane did!

halloween

2011-11-04T16:53:00.000-07:00

We had a great halloween. It seemed to NEVER END!!!

We had a birthday party for Jane Friday. A ward party on Saturday night. Break sunday. The boys dressed up for school on Monday for the Halloween parade. Jane had a party at preschool that day. Then we went trick-or-treating on Monday night. CANDY galore! It was aweful.

SO...once again the halloween goblin came to our house. Monday night after trick-or-treating the boys ate as much candy as they wanted, then picked out 10 pieces to save, and put the rest in a sac. The sac was no joke, 8 pounds! They traded it for a cool lego set I had gotten at a going out of business sale earlier this year and was saving for such an occasion! They were happy as could be, because it was a cool set, and I was absolutely thrilled!

The result: only one day of wrappers and candy eating before it was all gone, and then no more messes or popping candy round the clock! Well worth the money to me. Now what to do with the candy? Save the best ones for the christmas stockings (hey, why not?) and send the rest up to the office for the girls to eat over the next month or so.

Oh, and a side note: our friends had given us a hair dye for Cameron (he is Messi the soccer player who has shaggy black hair), and Braden INSISTED on his being black as well. So a few days before, Braden again INSISTED on being first, we dyed his hair. After seeing the results, Cam chickened out! Braden loves it. Seriously loves it. Cam used spray dye and he looked grey. Oh well. He wore a beenie. Now Braden has black hair, because it was a permanant dye. funny boy!

Paige

2011-11-04T16:50:00.001-07:00

So my little paige is now 19 months. She is the cutest little thing ever. We all just eat her up!
Yesterday in the car I looked back at her in my mirror and she was nodding on and off for about 10 minutes, and then finally she closed her eyes for good....or so I thought. Not one minute later the song "if your happy and you know it" came on (paige's absolute favorite) and just like that her eyes popped open and she was laughing and singing and clapping! It was SO FUNNY!!! I had to turn off the music so that she would actually go back to sleep after that.

Love that happy girl!

2011-10-10T22:12:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I had a sick day at home. I woke up feeling aweful, and before I knew it, I was best friends with my toilet... dry heaving and throwing up. It was painful and aweful. I don't know how women do it who throw up their whole pregnancy.

Anyways, I was sick, and I couldn't do anything to help the girls. So basically, all morning they walked around munching on cereal and destroying the house. I spent time on the couch and in my bed. At one point, I came down to check on them and found them like this:

(they were actually dancing on the table but when I got the camera out they sat down and said "cheese")

They were really cute. Until an hour later when Paige threw up all over my carpet. And then not so cute when a few hours later Jane started throwing up as well. Poor girl had it the worst, throwing up every 30 minutes for about 5 hours and in pain all throughout.

And actually, the reason I have all this time to blog tonight is because Tom is upstairs sick and I can't be around up there. There is a really nasty virus going around! Everyone I know is sick or has been sick or has sick kids! It's horrible! The weather turns cold and the sickness begins.

2011-10-10T22:01:00.000-07:00

This year on the first day of school Jane was a crack up! She is starting preschool this year, so she felt like she was a school girl too! Tom always gives the kids a special blessing (prayer) before they start school every year, and this year Jane hopped right up and wanted her special blessing as well. It was so darling.

Then, on the first day of school she insisted on being in the picture with Cameron and Braden, and then wanted her own picture with each of them as well. She's growing up WAY too fast, that girl is!

proud moment

2011-10-10T21:52:00.000-07:00

So Braden decided to do Cross country this year. It's a simple, fun way to exercise and it is just 45 minutes after school 4 days/week for one month. He's been such a trooper! First of all, he's doing soccer this fall and after one of the practices I was telling him how well he was doing, and he said, "mom, I'm not very fast. Do you think if I did cross country it would make me a faster runner?" I told him it absolutely would. So he signed up. He hasn't wanted to do it any other year so i was super surprised, and happy that he would take the initiative.

Every day he runs 4 laps, which is 2 miles, and every day he loves it!

During his timed miles, he got a 10:28 the first time, and then a 9:00 the second. I thought that was pretty decent for a 3rd grader. Well, the district cross country race was last week and man, was it a zoo. There were over 1000 runners from the district grades K-5. Braden had about 150 kids running his heat. He found his BFF, Jackson before the race started, and to my surprise, kept up with him the entire way! He ended up running around 7:40! That boy worked SO dang hard and ran his little heart out. I'm so proud of him for trying so hard and giving it his all. This was a HUGE step for him. Go Braden!

another funny

2011-10-10T21:47:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago Tom had just gotten home from picking up some stuff for the boat. I went out in the garage to look at it and when I went to come back inside the door was locked. I knocked on it, and then banged on it, then got really mad. Tom went around to the front and opened it up for me. When we came in I couldn't figure out who had locked it and why!
Well, a few minutes later I noticed something fishy. The pantry door open. A stool slid up to the shelfs. A broken mason jar with apple butter all over the floor. Glass all around. Hmmmm.
I told Tom it must have been Jane.
I go upstairs and find her in her bed playing. She takes one look at me and starts sobbing. I tell her I cleaned it up and I'm not mad but she just keeps crying. When I can finally calm her down the first thing she asks is, "how did you get in?"

funny

2011-10-10T21:43:00.001-07:00

So last Friday Tom's brother was over in Ellensburg for a concert thingy and so his mom and him kept on I-90 heading East to our place to hang for Friday night and watch the boys play soccer games on Saturday.
Cameron had a great game on Saturday, scoring 3 goals! After the game, we got a bite and then they were heading back on the road to get home. Before they left, Tom said to Cam, "Tell Johnny thanks for coming all the way over here and watching your game." Cam replied, "Your welcome Johnny. You usually have to PAY to see a game like that!"

punk! :)

I'm back...at least for today

2011-10-10T21:22:00.000-07:00

I always have these high hopes for blogging/journaling and make lofty goals to do it, only to disappoint myself a few weeks later by totally and completely flopping!

Here goes try # 179.

We had a crazy summer, to say the very least. We were gone about every other week with a family reunion or something like that. I'm all about posting pictures, but tonight that seems very overwhelming. It's hard to catch up on a whole summer full of travels. So I'll do a brief re-cap, and then update the here and now.

June 4: Braden got baptized! What a great day for him. Very special. Grandpa and Grandma Dance came from Seattle. Thanks guys!

June 11: Moses Lake Triathlon and 10 K. Tom did the Tri, I did the 10K! We had a fun weekend in Moses lake with Tom's family! It was fun watching so many Dance family members cross the finish line. At the end of the race, the director told us to all sign up together next year and he'll give us a discount!

June 17: Over to Seattle to welcome Jake home from his mission! Welcome home Elder Dance! What a fun filled weekend, playing with cousins and just having a blast!

June 22: Drove BACK to Seattle where Tom and I flew out to SPAIN!!! Spent 10 days out of the country with some of our favorite Utah peeps! What a trip. My first time using a passport, and it was well worth it! Super fun trip with lots of memories.

4th of July: Got home from Europe just in time to spend the 4th in Seattle with our kiddos and Tom's family once again. Man, when it rains, it pours. Either feast or famine when it comes to seeing family. I prefer the feast!

July 16th: My first TRIATHLON! Very exciting for me. Thanks to my good friends who ran with me and kept me going! It was a great experience, and actually fun too!

End of July: Dance family reunion in Paris!!! well, paris, idaho that is. LOTS of driving - 9 hours down and 9 back, but well worth the memories of being with the Dance extended family. So fun to see all the cousins and spend time with everyone we haven't seen or connected with in so long.

2 weeks later: Back in the car for a trip to Utah for the Headlee family reunion. I won't lie, I was most excited for this trip! My parents got home from their mission the beginning of July and this was the first time we got to see them. THey finally got to meet Paige! I loved being with my family so much, and my kids were in heaven with their cousins (when Jane wasn't torturing some of them). What a fun week of adventures! I drove by myself down there, and Tom flew in for the last 3 days of the reunion.

2 weeks later: My birthday!! I'm 33...ugh! And, I flew out this day to New York to visit my grandma Edie. LONGEST. TRIP. EVER. but well worth it!!! So fun to see grandma, and my parents were there to top it off. Got to spend time with my sister in NY and her kids, and got to show my kids where I grew up! They haven't been there in a good 4 years so they have zero memories of the place. It was amazingly beautiful and one of the best trips of the summer!

Got home just in time for Labor Day and to get ready for school. WHEW! I'm tired just thinking about it all over again. I thought and thought about how I could have simplified my summer, once it was all over, and realized there was nothing I could have done. I wouldn't have missed any of the reunions, the homecoming, my europe get-away with tom (and NO kids) was extremely needed, and the time with my grandma priceless.
BUT with that being said, next summer we are staying in Coeur d'Alene and welcoming any visitors! We just got a boat so we'll spend next summer on the lake at home, not away!

"baby" Paige

2011-07-18T22:04:00.000-07:00

Paige is growing up SO fast! She's already 15 months and I just want to freeze time and keep her exactly how she is! She is so dang fun and has so much personality. She is a complete spitfire and knows exactly what she wants all the time. She understands everything and is just so smart! I wish everyone could just see her and love her like I do!

Paige loves to color...on anything and everything! but how can you get angry at that cute face?

happy late easter!

2011-05-20T13:49:00.000-07:00

not the greatest picture, but a picture none the less!

more disneyland

2011-04-26T21:25:00.000-07:00

braden would tote this little one around all day if i let him! Cameron was one of many chosen to fight the 'dark side'

family shot on the ferris wheel:

work never stops:

jane loved minnie:

but was terrified of tinkerbell:

more Vegas

2011-04-26T11:27:00.000-07:00

I found a bunch of pictures on my iphone I wanted to post:
Here is my brother Chris and their cute family. Twin baby girls 10 weeks old here. They now have 3 girls under 2 years old. Hands full!!!And check out that dress my sister-in-law Amy made for her babies. She made matching dresses and used her wedding dress to make baby blessing dresses! We got to celebrate Makenna's baptism. The first of these 4 to get baptized. The rest will follow this year!

Here is a cousin shot...chaos!!!

Chuck-E-Cheese...gotta love it...

Bathtime:

Kate's little baby Jefferson and Paige: Jefferson is 5 months, and paige almost 12 here!

Jo loving Paige:

Had to share this one of my smiler:

January - March

2011-04-26T10:09:00.000-07:00

First of all...paige is getting bigger! Here's one of her about 9 months:I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted! I got a new camera and just haven't transfered any pictures to my computer yet. I printed my blog from the last 3 years (thanks to Rachel!), and after I got them, I stopped blogging! Kindof like "I did it" and "i'm done". But I love them. They are like a family journal for me so I'm really sad I haven't kept up with it the last few months.

This new year, 2011, has been full of fun adventures so far.

January - Visit from my sister, Rachelle, and her baby Josephine. Skiing every weekend at Schwietzer (I took lessons and improved some). Enjoying the SNOW!

me and braden on a beautiful day:

February - Skiing, skiing, and skiing. :)

lots of friends to ski with:

March - More skiing, and SPRING BREAK! We flew to Las Vegas to spend time with my family for 4 days...baptism...baby blessings....family dinners....chuck-e-cheese...soccer games...FUN!!! Then we drove to California and met up with the NIELSONS (WOO WOO) and played for 3 days at Disneyland!!! Enjoyed perfect weather, and ended the trip with a day at the beach where it was 85 degrees and we all got sunburned! Perfect way to come home!

Christmas Morning

2010-12-27T16:06:00.000-08:00

I always forget to take pictures on Christmas b/c I'm always behind the video camera. So as far as still shots go, this is almost all the ones I have!

All dressed up...

2010-12-27T15:58:00.000-08:00

let it snow!

2010-11-28T19:53:00.000-08:00

We had a great thanksgiving weekend with Dave and Chan's family here in CDA. Logan came over when he wasn't working, and Dallin and Chelsie came over from Lewiston and spent a day with us! It snowed every day, so the kids all had a blast playing in the snow and building a snow igloo with their uncles. (the dance boys are pros at building snow igloos...dallin, logan, tom and dave all helped!)Here is the snow igloo that turned into a sled hill too.

I pulled Jane and our neighbor Malachi on the sled. They're SO dang cute!

Paige Elizabeth and Lilie Jane. They are the best babies ever!

2010-11-17T09:55:00.000-08:00

The last 2 weeks have been pretty much the worst in a really long time. It started with potty training. Yup, Jane finally took the plunge into the world of panties. It took some MAJOR pushing and a morning of no diapers OR underwear, but she did it. I brought her toys downstairs so she had something to do and quick access to the toilet and to me. We stayed home most of the week, but in the end it wasn't as painful as I thought it would be, with this strong-willed little girl.

See how paige is playing with jane and the dollhouse? so cute, huh?

So after potty training was complete (which was after Jane's birthday party), we had to get ready for Cameron's birthday party. That was a TON of energy, but was a success. The next week I got sick. Woke up in the middle of the night with chills and fever. Totally miserable most of the night. This happened 3 out of the next 4 nights. The days were okay, just achy body and small headache. Until the 5th day. Day 5 = migraine= complete misery for the next 24 hours.

If you have had a migraine you understand.

It's over now and I'm SOOOO thankful to feel well again. I've got 1 kid home from school today, another sick baby girl in bed with a fever and rash all over her body, but I can handle anything with my body feeling well.

After that depressing post, here's a bit of joy from my screen to yours:
Isn't she the dang cutest thing you've ever seen? I love this little paige. She lights up our whole home!

Cameron turns 9

2010-11-17T09:49:00.000-08:00

Cameron turned 9. Holy cow. He's getting old. I'm getting old. I gave in and had a big birthday party for him at the house...well kinda. We went to Skate Plaza and the kids all rollerskated for 2 hours. Then we came back to the house for pizza & cake, and watched Toy Story 3. Cameron wanted a "late-over" party so he was satisfied that it ended at 9:30pm. Next year we are doing a family party.

Jane Turns 3!!!

2010-11-17T09:18:00.000-08:00

How is my baby girl already 3? Well, I guess she's technically not my "baby" girl but seriously, how is she 3? She had been talking for months about going to "chuck-a-cheeeeeese" for her birthday so of course that's what we did. She invited 5 little friends to go and she had a great time! She's seriously the cutest....love her!

2010-11-17T09:15:00.000-08:00

Cam was Draco Malfoy for halloween. Here is a pic of him with the rest of his Harry Potter posse!

Cousins, and Halloween part 1

2010-10-28T18:32:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago we got to have a fun weekend with COUSINS!!! That is a rare occasion for us so we just LOVE it when we get to play. My sister emily and her family came up from Utah. The boys had a blast with Adam, and Jane adored Jacob. Jacob and Paige are only 6 months apart but man, she's on the small side and he's on the big side so they were like 10 pounds different! Both dang cute though!We also got to babysit Brennan for 3 days and man, was he a dream or what? Why are some people blessed with such easy going children? Jane just loved having Brennan around. THey are exactly one year apart in age and I know they'll be friends!

Jane got to dress up today for her kindermusik class. She was so excited to put on her halloween costume...she is obsessed with dora!

Jane and some of her friends, Sam and Brady.

Dora and her Mami - (Jane actually looks like my daughter now!)

It's always fun to dress up in old costumes for Halloween. When we lived in SLC the boys were bears and I thought they were so big! Now look...Sally and Jane fit the bear costumes and they are sure cute!

2010-10-10T13:17:00.000-07:00

Paige dressed up in her Sunday clothes: The boys... after church. I still just think they are the dang cutest boys ever!

2010-10-10T12:59:00.000-07:00

Braden my soccer boy...go UPS Store!

Self portrait:

2010-10-10T12:52:00.000-07:00

"Cameron, Smile!""Okay, not so big!"

2010-10-03T16:53:00.000-07:00

First things first...my little Miss Paige is 6 months old today! Oh how I love this girl. She is such a dream. She's a happy, smiley baby and just so good! Why on earth did I get so lucky?

This weekend we got to host Tom's mom, brother Jonny, and sister Maria! Logan and Heather also came over from Spokane. It was a quick trip, but we had a great time and I'm SOOO glad they came! Tom was in Moab for a bike trip with some friends so it was so great to have a distraction for me and the kids.

In other news....Tom's little brother, Dallin, just announced his engagement! WOOOO HOOO!!!

He's getting hitched in December, after Christmas. We are SO thrilled. We love Chelsie!!!!

before and after

2010-09-17T17:02:00.000-07:00

i always cut my hair after i have a baby. not right away or anything, but soon after. paige is grabbing it, i find my long hairs everywhere! i'm totally shedding! basically, i needed a cleanse! So here you have it...
before: After:

2010-09-16T18:41:00.000-07:00

We got a gift certificate from our staff last year for a flight around Coeur d'alene. I went parasailing and so I opted to let the boys go instead of me (kids are 1/2 price). They had a blast!Do we live in the best place on earth or what? So beautiful! Here's my little 5-month old beauty! Love this girl!

Firsts

2010-09-10T15:18:00.000-07:00

First day of school! Bittersweet for me. Here we go again...schedules, pracitces, getting up early, homework, reading....
but then I get almost 7 hours/day with just my girlies...the house stays WAY cleaner, i can get on an exercise schedule, cook dinners again, and just feel not so overwhelmed. Like I said, bittersweet. Did I mention I really love my boys and are sad they are gone all the time, well, not really sad but just sad for like a minute and then I'm over it. (I had a really cute outfit for Braden, a cute shirt and this really cute jacket-ish shirt over it. Well, he boycotted and put on his favorite BYU shirt with a t-shirt under. Oh well. At least he wore jeans instead of his old grubby sweats!

As for Paige, she is now sitting up SO well! As crazy as it sounds, she is also getting kindof close to crawling! She's only 5 months, but she rolls onto her tummy, scoots those little fat legs under her and moves all over! I mean, she doesn't really get to where she wants to go quite yet, but she's a mover! I didn't put her on her tummy till a few weeks ago (I know she needed tummy time but she's a major spitter upper so it would make me crazy to do it!) and once I did, she started rolling over right away and now she's movin all over! She is SUCH a great little baby. We just eat her up!

b-day

2010-09-05T14:49:00.000-07:00

So for my birthday, my friends picked me up, blindfolded me, and brought me here...

Do I have great friends or what? Happy 32nd birthday ME!There was one glitch...when we got there the day of my birthday, the winds were too high and they canceled. We actually rescheduled for the next week and came down and did it then. It was fun, beautiful, and totally peaceful up there!

Here is the most recent pic of my two little ladies! Aren't they cute! I love my girls!

girls weekend 2010

2010-08-27T06:55:00.000-07:00

Get ready for some pictures! My BYU Gals came to Coeur d'Alene!!! We had so much fun! It's hard to believe that we met 14 years ago in Heleman Halls and here we are, still going at it, having fun together and making memories to last a lifetime! These girls are some of my favorite of all time. I'm so lucky to have met them and stayed close with them all these years.

It was: Lake and I

Mara and BrookePepper and TiffanyAll of us at Independance Point:Going out to a movie:

Going out on our friends boat:

I surfed Coeur d'Alene style:
And Pepper did it hawaii style!

Everyone else wakeboarded or surfed as well and had a blast doing it!

We rode bikes from my house to the beach, about 5 1/2 miles down there:

Then we swam for a few minutes and layed out a while:

Ate dessert at the famous "gooeys":

We ate out at a few of my fave's here in Cd'A. We spent countless hours talking talking and more talking till the wee hours of the night! We even enjoyed a Zumba class at the gym!

Man, I love you girls! Thanks for making the trip and ending the summer with a bang!

4 months

2010-08-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

my friend erin sent me a darling puma outfit. it's a 12 month outfit...bet she never thought my 4-month-old would be wearing it the day after it came! i love it. it's darling! thanks erin!

paige is finally on her tummy. not for long, but she'll do it!

August

2010-08-10T08:26:00.000-07:00

Summer has been FLYING by, but we've been having a great time! The boys have had a few structured things like soccer, swim lessons & piano, but for the most part, they just play outside every day with friends or neighbors.

We borrowed some jetskis from one of tom's assistants and the kids had a blast going out on the water! Even Jane loved it and still talks about it!

Paige is LOVING her toes. She lays there and grabs them all the time. It's just so dang cute!

Jane is LOVING her clothes. She changes a few times each day and gets dressed all by herself! She is also loving her big girl bike. She rides all around the cul-de-sac.

So the big event last weekend was the Coeur d'Alene Triathlon. We had Tom's brother Dave, and brother Jeff & wife Kari participate with Tom. Tom's mom and two brothers (and one brothers girlfriend) came as well to cheer. We had a house full of fun! After the triathlon we spent the day at the beach. It was a great weekend!

Here is Jeff and Kari getting ready for the swim:

The first wave of swimmers. Ready, set, go! It is a .9 mile swim. Tom is all the way on the left in the green cap. :)

Here he is getting ready to transition to the run after his 26 mile bike:

The cheer squad. These boys were up at 6:15am with us and were running all around watching. They loved it!
And here goes Tom into the run. 6.2 miles.

Here comes dave into the finish!
All our finishers! oops, I cut off dave's head.
Tom did really well! I was so proud of him. He's had an injured calf and hasn't run for a few months. (Well, a few months is an understatement. He's had this injury for about 2 1/2 years now. Surgery isn't an option, so he just has to deal with it and hope it heals itself in the next year or two.) The last triathlon he did was a sprint and 1/2 mile into the run his calf gave out on him and he walked back. It was really a miracle he finished running this one. His brother Dallin ran along side him the entire time so that if he had to stop and walk, Dallin could finish the race for him. Tom just didn't want a "did not finish" behind his name. But he did it. And he was pretty smokin' fast too! He did it in 2 hours 23 minutes, and took 7th in his age category, and 49th overall. There were over 900 individual athletes competing, so that's pretty amazing!

you're such a good girl!

2010-07-23T21:37:00.000-07:00

Look how BIG my baby girl is getting! She's got huge, cute, kissable cheeks and is just such a great baby! I'm posting a video of Jane talking to paige. She loves her sister so much, it's so fun to watch her. She has only been mean to Paige one time, when Paige was a few weeks old she bit her finger. Paige was sound asleep and woke up with a "I'm in major pain" scream. It took me a minute to figure out what was wrong. I had to examine closely but Jane finally fessed up. I think she was curious, not being really mean. She's seriously never done anything but be nice to Paige since. Can you tell how good my baby girl is? Jane hears me saying this to Paige all the time and I caught her being so sweet to her here. She's always talking to Paige and telling her things. It's cute!

Las Vegas!!! Pictures, and more pictures...

2010-07-14T22:42:00.000-07:00

Tons of pictures from our trip to vegas. We had a blast spending the 4th with my family and thanks to my sisters, we did LOTS of fun things! We spent a few days up in St. George with my sister Emily and her family, as well as Kate, Rachelle, and Whitney and families. Lots of kids, lots of fun, lots of craziness! Bathtime with the girl cousinsBowling FUN!!! Super supporters below.

Cute baby Jo.

Braden got the first strike of the game. I LOVE how excited all the cousins got for each other when they did good. They all chanted each others names and cheered!

Paige was cheering too! :)

Uncle Sam playing games with the boys. Thank goodness he was there!

We hiked up Snow Canyon in St. George. It was really fun, and really hot!

Me with my kiddos (jane stayed home).

We went to California Pizza Kitchen for a tour and got to make our own mini pizzas! Don't I have cute nieces and nephews?

We also went to an Arctic Exibit where the kids put on penguin aprons and slid down a slide. Amazing what keeps a kid busy for an hour.

Paige tagging along with us. Look at those cheeks! My 3-month-old is getting so big!

We also went to the childrens museum. The kids really liked it!

They had a "hurricaine simulator" where they create winds up to 85 mph. Jane LOVED it and went in it 4 times! Her curls were pretty much straight by the end. It was hilarious!

One of the best things about going to vegas in the summer is swimming at the pool. It feels so good to be outside there when you are wet!

This was the first time Paige had been in the water. She loved it!

We had SUCH a great time! I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful, fun family. I'm so lucky to have such beautiful and close sisters. We have a great time together, as do our kiddos. (Well, when Jane's not hitting her cousins which did happen a few times towards the end. And Braden did get in a few conflicts himself. But overall, a memorable, priceless vacation full of memories!)

sunday snapshots

2010-06-27T12:19:00.000-07:00

My kids looked really cute for church today. Paige's bow is off and Cameron took off his tie but that's not bad for a picture after 3 hours of church. I love that once per week I get to choose what they wear, do ALL of their hair, and they don't get to complain about it!

My friend Traci gave the girls matching dresses and I love love love them! Thanks Traci!

picture of the day

2010-06-20T21:09:00.000-07:00

After a rainy sunday and the kids getting on each others nerves (seriously, bad day for the boys...constantly on each other), I decided to get them in their pjs and turn on a movie so I could enjoy a little peace and quiet. Well, paige fell asleep in bradens arms, and they were all quiet and happy for about an hour and a half! Amazing. And how can I not help but LOVE my kids as I post this picture and think of how cute they are! And it's easy to love them when they are now all in bed! Thanks to the BEST father in the world!!!

my two girls

2010-06-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

Just a few pics i took yesterday of paige. she is so fun. look how cute that little round face is! she lights up the whole family when she smiles!

Jane is my little princess who loves loves loves to sing songs!

Sunday update

2010-06-06T21:05:00.000-07:00

Sunday nights is a great night for me to update my blog with some new pictures!
The Gattens moved this week so we had them over for dinner today after church. (Didn't move far, thank goodness!) My kids just LOVE their kids. Always have and always will! They know they were all friends since they were in their moms belly. We see them quite often so I always forget to take pictures of them together. Today I had it out taking some pics of Paige so I snapped a few of the other kids as well.

Paige turned 2 months on the 3rd. She's getting so big to me! And finally, it has happened...she is getting easier! She's over her "colic" or whatever it was. She seriously was super unsettled all the time during about the first 6 weeks of life. But she has totally outgrown that and is just the cutest, smiley baby now! Of course she's super serious in these pictures, but I love her expressions and couldn't pick just one to post! She's a talker now too, cooing all the time!

Braden is my boy who loves to hold paige. I love having a helper!

Blessing & Birthday

2010-05-30T21:36:00.000-07:00

Today was Paige's blessing day. Tom's family all came to Coeur d'Alene to visit and we had a wonderful weekend filled with partying, eating, games, and fun!

Grandma Dance with my two little princesses!

Braden's birthday was Friday and we had a Pirate party for him with friends, lots of fun games, and a piniata.Maria made an AMAZING cake for us! Super cute, huh? (I mean maria, not the cake!)

Braden lost his front tooth...finally! After letting it hang loose for weeks, he was eating lunch and almost swallowed it! (The last tooth he let get so loose he actually did swallow it while eating a quesadilla.)

growing

2010-05-22T14:03:00.000-07:00

She's growing so fast! Before I know it, she'll be in kindergarten!

Playing a little DS with the boys

Happy mothers day!

2010-05-10T16:21:00.000-07:00

The four reasons I'm SO happy I'm a mother...

#1...Cameron. My responsible, talented, smart, soccer star!Braden...my sweet boy who is stubborn as can be who thinks he is Indiana Jones.My Janie girl who is so amazing, so darling, so funny, and refuses to nap and looks like this several times between 4 and 6:00pm!My new little Paige. My angel.

Paige gave me the first "real" smile today. That is what makes being a mom worth it!

1 month old

2010-05-02T20:47:00.000-07:00

where does the time go?

Sunday Pictures

2010-04-25T13:37:00.000-07:00

I finally took some more pictures of the kids today. I'm so jealous of all of you who have a really nice camera that takes like 10 pictures per second and capture every facial expression. I swear, by the time my flash goes off I've missed the moment.

Anyone live by me that has a nice camera that wants to take pictures of my baby for me???

I did get a couple cute ones of Paige. I had to take like 20 before I could find a few I liked. This one looks like she's almost going to smile!

Cute sisters.

This is the first picture I have of all of my kids! And it's not even very cute. I'm going to do professionals later this summer when paige looks like a baby and not newborn. And when I have the patience and no post-partum hormones in me. Pictures are about the most stressful thing I can think of...I'm sure to cry if we tried to do it right now!

2010-04-24T16:04:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday was sunny and 70 degrees so we took the family over to Tubbs hill to hike around. It was so great to get out and enjoy the sun! Sundays often feel like we are all cooped up inside and the boys go crazy. We had a fun time walking around together and enjoying the beautiful views! Tom and I get to carry our girls and the boys ran ahead and explored every rock and cliff. Paige slept the whole time in the Moby Wrap. Jane loved the backpack.

We left the camera in the hiking backpack all week long. I thought I lost it. I was about to go buy a new one when Tom found it...happy day! Here's an updated picture of Paige. She's about 2 1/2 weeks here. Today she is 3 weeks old! How time flies. She's still as itty bitty as can be.

2010-04-15T19:40:00.000-07:00

I had to get a picture of Paige in her carseat. She looks so itty bitty in there! I'm not going to lie, when she's awake, she is often unsettled. She has to be held and her binky is her new best friend. Tonight I gave Cameron and Braden the job of holding her while I put Jane to bed. It's so nice having big helpers! Majorly different than when the boys were little.

I finally put a bow on Paige's head for the first time today. Nothing fits her tiny head, until I found this one and found a flower to attach. Isn't she darling??? Bows and flowers totally make all the difference!

Our first walk. Just me and the girls! It was 70 degrees today which was heaven!

Jane loves Paige. She hasn't been mean to her once...yet!

I will say, Jane has been giving Tom and I a run for our money. She tells us "NO" all the time and tests everything, every boundry, and is making me a little crazy! She is so opinionated all of the sudden. Yesterday I took this picture of her (below). She got herself dressed and came down and said, "I look so pretty, mama". Yes, she is so pretty! Pretty naughty! I will say, she does still have her sweet side. She will whine and cry and then instantly turn it off and say something sweet to me. Oh, that Jane.

more paige

2010-04-08T13:08:00.000-07:00

I took a little video of Paige. I don't think that pictures do justice to her tini/cute-ness! It is oh so sad that they have to grow!

Don't let the cute, innocent face fool you...I got to love this little one this morning from about 1:30am till 4am...

Good thing I love her oh so much!

paige

2010-04-06T17:56:00.000-07:00

It's A ...

2010-04-04T12:53:00.000-07:00

baby GIRL!!! Paige Elizabeth Dance...6 lbs 12 oz...19 inches.

She came last night about 5:00pm and is absolutely perfect. Of course, I was very surprised! Now I know why Tom and I couldn't come up with ANY boy names we liked!

We feel so lucky to have this little on in our family! Pictures don't do justice. I'll post more later!

antsy...

2010-04-01T19:33:00.000-07:00

No, this baby is not here yet.
Yes, I am ready!
5 days till my due date, however, I'm going in on Saturday for an induction if baby doesn't come before (which I'm sure he/she won't). Tom works all next week and it's stressing him out thinking about rescheduling 50 patients on any given day if I go into labor during the day. So with him stressed out, it stresses me out, and I tell my doctor, and he tells me I can watch general conference at the hospital!

I think I am just so antsy b/c braden was 10 days early and jane 12 days early. So for the last week I've been thinking "any day now". Now I'm sick of saying that. Now I can just say, "Saturday is the day" and I don't have to answer the phone with "no, nothing is happening yet."

Will post results shortly, along with a picture of this new little one!

Basketball & More

2010-03-20T14:36:00.000-07:00

This is the first season I've signed the boys up for basketball and they have really loved it! They were definately not too good at the beginning, but that would be my fault. I am a lover of the sport, and actually have played every wednesday night with a great group of girls up until about 2 weeks ago when my tailbone just gave out on me (due to the fact that I was 36 weeks pregnant).

So you'd think I would have taught the kids something about the sport...well, I haven't. But I will say, they are atheletic boys and by the end of the season, they were both doing great! Cameron was one of the best on his team, and Braden, well, he's great on defense and he scored his first basket the last game!

I'm really proud of both my boys. It was really fun (and also REALLY frustrating at times, but more fun) watching them play this year!

Here is a cute picture I took of Jane last night. I just die over her curls. They are either so cute, or so out of control. Totally suits her personality!
My friend took this picture of me after I told her I have a total of THREE pictures of me pregnant! I don't know why I would even want to document being huge and pregnant, but hey, it's 9 months of my life! Only 2 1/2 weeks till my due date...which means I'm hoping to deliver next weekend, about 9 days early (Braden was 10 days early and Jane 11)! But honestly, I'm not that anxious. I'd be happy anytime. It's pretty unreal that it's already here.

Fun in Seattle

2010-03-20T14:24:00.000-07:00

While Tom was in Guatemala, the kids and I decided to take a trip to Seattle. Chan met up with us there (Dave was with Tom) and we had a wonderful weekend just playing and enjoying cousin time!
We attended Jonny's first soccer game. It was a cold one, so we bundled up warm and had a great time! Jonny even scored a goal for us! Not bad for a FRESHMAN on the varsity soccer team! Only one of two to make it! He's a hero in my boys eyes!

Playing at the park by Grandma's house

We celebrated Brighton's first birthday. That girl is so dang cute!
Jane was being so cute with Great Grandma Dance. She was being so funny, I was glad Julienne captured this shot!

While the husband's away...

2010-03-16T09:36:00.000-07:00

the wife will paint, sew, and take a trip!

Tom went to Guatemala for the last 10 days on a little service mission with the CDA Eye clinic here and his two brothers. Tom did dental work all day (literally all day) and his brother Dallin was his assistant, while Dave was in the eye clinic doing surgeries all day. He had an amazing time...I'll post some pictures of his trip later.
While he was gone, I kept myself very busy! I didn't want to go crazy, 10 days is a long time with 3 kids, a huge belly, and myself. So I decided to surprise Tom with a few projects.
I first painted Jane's room pink...every girl needs a pink room!
It's really cute.
Here is the before:

Here is the after:

After searching every store here in Coeur d'Alene, and not finding any thing I liked, I decided to make my own curtains for her room. It was a little time consuming, and as you can tell, I was so excited to take a picture I haven't hung the 2nd rod yet (I actually have to still sew the loops on the other two panels and hem all 4 panels). But it was worth it. The material is white with white flowers embroidered and it is really cute! I think I may get some really cute pink ribbon and tie them back. I still have to decorate the walls, but paint was the first step!
Then I did my room. Before:

After:

I am working on getting a bed frame (there is a brushed silver bed from pottery barn I'm in love with), and I also have some silver curtain rods to hang. Again, I couldn't find any cute panels so I bought panels for my room too. They are white as well with some embroidery...really cute. I'll update when they are done, which will be very soon!I finished off with the boys room. they are in the bonus room so it's an odd shaped room, and very big. So I decided to only paint a few of the walls so far. Also, I ran out of time before Tom got home!
Before:

After:

I am going to get a desk or a cute bookshelf for this little nook right here. I have my eye on a two, so we'll see, hopefully soon!
We also decided to go to Seattle on Thursday. I drove over Thursday evening and we spent the weekend there. The kids had a great time. Channing and her kids came up (Dave was with Tom), and we got to visit with Kari too. It was a great weekend and really, I'm quite proud of myself for holding up so well without a hubby for so long! I only broke down once, and it was at like 12:30am when I was tired and my kids had an "off" day...the only one while he was gone. They really were great the whole time. It's like kids know when mom can't handle one more fit or button pushed. Plus, I was too busy to care about the little things like my house being picked up, dinner, if my kids eat 4 packs of fruit snacks in one afternoon...you know.
More pictures soon!
Oh, and only 3 more weeks till due date! Had an ultrasound yesterday to check baby's size (I was measuring abnormally small, yet again) and baby is just fine! Yeah!

2010-02-16T15:36:00.000-08:00

Jane didn't want to take a nap today. I didn't want to fight her so I closed the door and told her to read books and have "quiet time" in her room. Well, moms know best, right? She was exhausted and after talking to my sister on the phone (okay for about 45 minutes), I went up there thinking it was awefully quiet, and found her...

Oh, and I finally cut the boys hair. With the pile on my bathroom floor, I could have donated to locks of love!

dreams

2010-02-15T15:07:00.000-08:00

do you believe in dreams?
when jane was less than one week old I dreamed i had a new baby boy. we named him tommy. it was really real to me. i think it was a little vision telling me i wasn't done having kids, there was another special someone out there going to join our family some day. for those few minutes in my dream, i loved this little boy.

we don't know what we are having. but 2 nights ago i had another dream that I had a baby boy. this one was more brief, just a dream of a naked baby after birth...definately a boy!

then last night another dream! and another boy. last night was the first wierd one...the labor and delivery was a piece of cake, and then I saw him, and he had a tooth. random, i know! but I was in love with him. (Tom has had to pull a few teeth on newborns...really rare, but it does happen.)

So needless to say, if this baby comes out and is a girl, I will be VERY surprised!
7 weeks to go. 5-6 weeks to go I'm as early as Braden and Jane. Yes, I'm already counting because yes, I am starting to get uncomfortable!

February...so far

2010-02-15T14:37:00.000-08:00

A post NOT about my kids. Thus the pictures aren't as cute as normal! :)
I went to upstate, New York for three days to visit my Grandma. I haven't been back to NY for over 3 years, so it was nice to go back to my hometown and even better to visit with my grandma. My cousin, Amy, flew out from LA the same weekend so it was a double treat for me. WE got to remember old times and catch up on life. It was really nice. It was really great to just hang out, make some dinners, desserts, and just spend time together!Amy caught this shot of Grandpa Gerry telling one of his stories. He is a talker! :)

Okay so I look REALLY pregnant in that picture above.

This one is me and my niece Hannah. Isn't she just a doll? She's a few days older than Jane.

We visited the house I grew up in. I knocked on the door b/c I really wanted to see the inside again, but no one was home. Sad for me. Oh, the memories!

I got home from New York Monday evening (after spending 12 hours in airports/on airplanes) and Tom left Tuesday afternoon for his Cat ski trip he's been looking forward to for the last year! He got home and said it was the best vacation he's ever taken!

Above: The CAT you ride up the mountain in. Below: Just one pic of a little jump. It was apparently breathtaking, amazing, the best skiing he's ever done.
Part of the group: There was 11 in the group all together. A few friends from Spokane, a few from dental school. Overall, an amazing group , amazing skiers, and TONS of fun.
I managed to make it through the weekend without him without going completely crazy. I got to deal with sick kids, and a FOUR day weekend. Not fair. Oh well. We're back to normal now, and hopefully I'll be better about taking some pictures, although nothing eventful is going on right now in the dead of winter!

2010-01-06T18:56:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all! I didn't take many pictures...more videos. Here are a few I did snap. The boys loved their matching vests from grandma.

Jane LOVED her dollhouse. Played with it all week long!

The little elfs...we had a sleepover right before Christmas!

I have a few pics from New Years in Seattle as well...will have to come later though.

Check out Jane singing...

2009-12-23T19:26:00.000-08:00

So the other night at bedtime I was singing this to Jane and all of the sudden she started singing with me. I had no idea she knew the entire song! It cracked me up. Then I started to sing others and when I'd stop she'd fininsh the sentence. The little smarty pants.

She is just my little sweetie that melts my heart daily. The things she says and does...she's so funny! Everything I do she is so grateful. She says "thank you mommy" to me 20 times/day. And if someone is sad, she will just go up and put her little arms around them and say, "it's okay". Like I said, she melts your heart.

Twas the first day of break and all through the house...

2009-12-21T15:22:00.001-08:00

Kids were going crazy and NOT quiet like a mouse!
We stayed in our PJ's, took naps, ate neighbors treats.
The kids were bored, not obeying, not too sweet.

So, funny story, kindof:
Friday night, a girl in our ward did a fundraiser with some other girls (to raise money for needy families this Christmas). They sold babysitting tickets and we, of course, bought three, one for each kid. There were about 40 kids there, total. It was organized chaos. But they had a blast!

Well, 24 hours later, the "fun" began. Saturday night, about 6 families children who were at the babysitting night (that's just so far that I've talked to), were up with their kids puking all night long. Sunday, I thought we had escaped it. My kids all felt great and were happy as could be. Then while we were at church, Jane threw up ALL over me. She continued to throw up every hour till about 10:00pm last night. Then, all night long she woke up crying. Her tummy hurt and she was thirsty. I gave her little sips of water throughout the night and finally this morning at 6am after 8 hours of no throwing up, I let her have some crackers and more water. Basically, she slept with me and about 2am Tom went into her bed.

Now I have secluded our family from any others for the next 24 hours to make sure it is OVER. It was so quick spreading I don't dare go anywhere, for fear of spreading it to some other poor soul.

We are all going crazy, ready for dad to get home from work to entertain us, and it's only 3:30 in the afternoon. Hopefully tonight will be uneventful, restful, and then tomorrow we can go play!

One week till Christmas...

2009-12-19T13:47:00.000-08:00

Here are my cute school boys on the last day of school before winter break! Janie decided to dress up in her fairy outfit. She is so funny!

Santa visited our ward Christmas party. The boys were thrilled to see him (as you can tell), and Jane wanted NOTHING do do with him, except the candy cane he was giving out. When I tried to put her on his lap, she freaked.

So with one week left, we are finally ready for christmas to come!

The only thing I'm not so ready for is the time at home with my kids. I desperately need some ideas of fun things to do this next week so we don't all get on each others nerves! Any ideas would be appreciated!

Newest Addition

2009-12-10T16:13:00.000-08:00

So we got our Christmas present a little early this year...a piano. I've been wanting one for a long time now, and we finally decided to just buckle down and buy one. It is accompanied by our Christmas tree at the moment (had to post a picture of our tree. We cut it down over Thanksgiving in the mountains with Tom's family. Cute, huh?)

The boys have loved playing on the piano, and i'm going to get them started on lessons at the new year. I've really enjoyed getting back into playing again as well! Christmas is a fun time to have fun songs to play!

Oh, and one more exciting thing...Maria set a date for the wedding...March 20th. We are super excited for her. Now let's just pray this baby stays inside of me till we get home from the wedding!

YEAH!!!

2009-11-29T20:57:00.000-08:00

My cute sister-in-law Maria got engaged over Thanksgiving break! She is marrying Kirk sometime early next year...probably February, but date's aren't final yet! We are SO happy for them. They are seriously the cutest couple and are just so great for each other! We are super excited to have Kirk in the family. He is currently in his pediatric dental residency in hawaii. Long term plan for Tom and I is to convince them to move out this way and us help him find a job close! If not, no worries...we'll be going to pedo conferences with them forever.

This picture was taken over Labor day at my house. Aren't they so cute!?!

IT'S A...

2009-11-19T13:48:00.000-08:00

Healthy little baby! I had my ultrasound today and I got to see the little one moving all around. Healthy, all the parts in their correct places, and pretty cute too! But I'm biased as the mother!

What is the gender? Well, that we will all have to wait until D-Day. That's right. We didn't find out. We have two boys, one little girl, and we'll be thrilled with whatever comes next. We've never been surprised and just thought it would be really fun this time!

Funny though, how much of an opinion everyone has on the subject! I think I have only had one or two people actually say, "oh, that's fun!" Everyone else gives me the, "you are one of those" or "why would you do that" or "just put it in an envelope and give it to me so I can know" (the most popular phrase yet believe it or not)! But the truth is, I don't care what others think. I'm 100% satisfied knowing everything is healthy at this point and really look forward to finding out upon delivery!

Cameron's big day

2009-11-09T09:10:00.000-08:00

We have had a CRAZY couple of weeks in our house. Maybe not so much for everyone else but at least for me! It started with Jane's birthday last week, then I hosted book group at my house and fed everyone Cafe Rio salads. Then I prepared for Cameron's birthday (one week later), did some last minute shopping, had a family party with him on the 5th, and then a friends party on the 6th. Let me tell you, 7 eight-year-olds = chaos! At least Cam had a blast!

The next morning we woke up and got ready for a very special day...baptism day. We didn't get to celebrate one baptism, but two!! Cameron's lifelong friend, Kate, was getting baptized the same day. They are 6 weeks apart and have been friends since they were born! Lizzy and I met in dental school when we were both pregnant with these guys! So anyways, we went to Kate's baptism that morning, at 10:00, then went over to their house for lunch. Tom's parents came in about 2pm and we hung out with them until Cameron and Tom had to go to the church to get ready for Cam to get baptized at 5:00pm.

Cameron and Kate right after Kate's baptism.

Just before going to the church with dad and grandpa.

All dressed in white.

Right after the baptism. Can you tell how much my kids LOVE having their picture taken?

Kate came to Cam's baptism too!

After the day was over, we decided to celebrate by taking Jane to a sitter and going out to Red Lobster! Cameron and Kate LOVE shrimp and got the bottomless shrimp. Man, did they put it down! Here they are toasting with their root beers!

What a great weekend! We really had a blast with Grandma, grandpa, and Jonny coming to celebrate with us! But today I'm in my PJ's and am going to stay that way! :)

Halloween Fun!

2009-11-01T14:07:00.000-08:00

We had a GREAT Halloween this year! It was just so fun because our kids were so excited about it! We went swimming in the afternoon with the kids at the Kroc center, went to a halloween party at a friends house where we had potluck dinner and the kids did crafts, then we came home and went trick-or-treating. I stayed at home to hand out toothbrushes & a piece of candy to everyone who came by our house, and Tom took the kids out. Jane was hillarious! After every house she would say, "one more house, daddy". She did not want to come back in and would not let anyone hold her candy bag, even when it got heavy. The boys had a blast and could have kept going but it was getting chilly and we bribed them with a movie.

My three amigos!Jane was a unicorn (thanks to my friend). Braden was Indiana Jones and Cameron was Zorro.
During the movie Braden said, "This is the best day ever!"

Oh, and they didn't really care about how much candy they got b/c in our house, the halloween goblin comes and eats their candy anyways. What's that? Well, the boys write a note to the goblin, put their candy out on the front door step before they go to bed, and in the morning, the candy is gone and a prize is there waiting for them. They were so excited about it this year they had NO problems picking 5-10 pieces of their favorite candy to save(after stuffing their faces all night) and putting the rest out. Sure enough, this morning, the boys each had the prize they wanted (thanks to Tom and his late-night Fred Meyer run), and I don't have to deal with candy, wrappers, and more candy messes than I care to deal with post-halloween.

Last year I even had enough candy still left at Christmas to use to stuff their stockings!

Jane's birthday!

2009-10-29T20:43:00.000-07:00

2009-10-29T20:30:00.000-07:00

We had a birthday party for Jane. She had 7 friends come and we did a "mommy & me" music class. Jane loved it. Bubbles at the party!

Jane was all about the present opening! She was so excited to get some cute "girly" things!

We had a family birthday party tonight with the kids. Jane totally enjoys singing happy birthday to herself!Happy Birthday to my sweet baby girl!

Happy Birthday Grandma!!!

2009-10-29T08:06:00.000-07:00

2009-10-26T13:00:00.000-07:00

Cameron's soccer is officially over. Happy day! The rain has come, the weather cold, and I'm glad we don't have to sit out in it anymore! This is a few shots from the last game...sunny amazingly enough! I didn't bring my camera to any other game so they are kindof funny pictures!
Cameron did have a great season this year. It was really fun to watch the games. It's amazing how the skills jump from age 5-6 to 7-8. These guys can get pretty intense at times! Here is Cam with his coach, Coach Tom. Funny thing is, we didn't volunteer to coach, they were desperate for help this year. So Tom said he would do it (this was a week before the first game and after all the teams were set). Well, come to find out, we aren't even on the team we sponsored! Even more ironic, Tom is coaching the OTHER pediatric dentists sponsored team. By the time we found out, it was too late to change anything. Oh well! Tom was a really good sport about it and just laughed it off.

We were lucky to have our cousin Max come to visit us from Las Vegas. He had a bit of dental work that needed to be done. One frequent flyer later, we got to spend all weekend with him! The boys LOVED it!

Jane decided Saturday night she wanted to sleep in her big girl bed. We've had this set up for a few weeks and suddenly the other night she was crying in her crib saying "big bedroom". I put her in here, mostly for kicks to see what she'd do, and she fell right asleep. Next night, same thing! Is this a foreshadowing of the future? When she decides something, she does it. All of the sudden she has to be the one to put her shoes on, she has to pick out her clothes (although if I distract her enough I can get what I want on her), she has to get out of the car by herself. Everything is "my do it".

But who can resist those blue eyes and white curls?

One down...

2009-10-18T09:02:00.000-07:00

After 2 months of soccer games taking over our Saturday mornings, Braden's season is over. He did amazing! He was by far, the most aggressive player on his team (yes, I am talking about Braden) and scored at least 2 goals per game. Yesterday he scored 4...just wanted to end the season on a high note! It has been SO fun to watch him grow and come into his own. He had so much confidence this season and really just fell in love with the game of soccer. I'm really proud of him. He needed a season to be the best, and not be in his brothers shadow. Here he is getting his trophy.

And here is a clip I took of him scoring a goal. Glad to catch it on camera!

I wanted to post this picture of my boys...this is where they hang out with our neighbor, Ryan. We have since moved the tramp by the fence so they jump off the fence and land on the trampoline. When Ryan wants to play, he climbs up onto his fence and yells Braden's name till someone comes to the back door to tell him if they can play. It's pretty cute.

2009-10-13T17:08:00.000-07:00

Jane picking flowers in front of our house. This was one of the last warm days of the year. We went to the pumpkin patch and animal farm. Jane LOVED it! Of course, every picture of her with an animal she turned away when I snapped it!

And finally, Tom's new baby...

2009-10-07T22:49:00.000-07:00

A Lemon.That's the size of the baby right now. So why is it I'm only 14 weeks and TOTALLY feeling like I want to slip into those comfy maternity clothes? Unfortunately, my pride won't quite let me. Give me 2 more weeks and anything goes!

April 6th...my due date. And YES...we're really excited! :)

WICKED

2009-09-29T16:25:00.000-07:00

What can be better than a weekend in Seattle with friends (and some family), shopping, seeing WICKED, more shopping, eating YUMMY food, staying up LATE, and more shopping?

Plain and simple...nothing!

We had a blast. Thanks Traci for hosting. Yummy treats to snack on till the wee hours of the night! Comfy beds to sleep in. Fun running trails for our early morning runs (8:30...that's early for not having kids!), a fun hike.

Thai food. CPK. Panera Bread. Bellevue Square. Ross. Ikea (although I skipped out on this one!).

Did I mention it was 48 hours of pure fun? Every mom needs a weekend away sometimes!

2009-09-29T12:56:00.000-07:00

Can I tell you how much I love having a girl? I feel like I'm playing dress-ups all the time. I got her some new clothes this last weekend and it was so fun! I had so many hand-me-downs I couldn't justify buying anything for her. But alas, the hand-me-downs have slowed to almost a complete stop and although it stinks, it's okay too. Because now I can actually buy things for her and not feel guilty! This is one of about 4 new outfits I have for her. I'm sure the pictures will keep on coming b/c I can hardly stand how cute she is! One of the best things is that she loves bows in her hair. She puts them on and says, "pretty". Once again... reading, reading, reading!

2009-09-23T14:39:00.000-07:00

Remember Jane's book obsession? Here's a few pictures...
See that basket full of books? She dumps them all out and pics a few she wants to read with me. Then when we are done, she says, "One more book. One more book."

Sassy

2009-09-22T13:45:00.000-07:00

I thought only little girls were sassy. Nope. Cameron has had 3 incidents in the last week where he has been completely sassy and disrespectful. What do I do? He has consequences, but to that he says, "I don't really care, mom" or "whatever, mom". It's all I can do to keep from physically strangling the boy! Worst part about it, Braden did it to me this morning! AHHH!
It's a stage, right? They are learning it from kids at school, right? The'll get over it, right?

I'm in need of a major mom-cation. Good thing this weekend I'm going to seattle with GIRLS ONLY to do some shopping and see the play "Wicked"! It'll be totally quick (2-days), but it will be spent with some of my favorite people. Pictures to follow!

2009-09-19T21:45:00.000-07:00

I hardly ever post b/c I don't feel like there is anything very eventful to post about. Isn't that most of us? I mean, when I started blogging, people were checking blogs, updating, writing comments on an hourly basis. Seriously. I'd write a post and put up some pictures, and within 2 hours check back to see what kind of comments I got. Now I'm lucky if I post once a month.

Well, I've decided to start blogging more. I don't need to blog about the big things, just the little things. I'm working on turning my first year of blogs into a book, like a family journal, on Blurb. And now I'm sad that my posts have become so infrequent, and because I don't post as much, I find I don't take as many pictures. And because I don't take pictures, in turn I don't blog (because I love pictures on blogs). So my new resolution is to do both more! I need to remember all the little things about my kids that I'm NOT writing down!!! So here's a start:

Jane loves books. I'm going to start taking her picture when I find her with books. She is seriously obsessed. She brings us books no matter where we are. She has about her favorite dozen memorized. I find her in her room or the toy room on her tummy reading them sometimes. And if you listen, she's really reading them (well, the best she knows how based on pictures)! This week, I took her to heaven....the library. She LOVED it!!! It was so funny. She just kept bringing me book after book. And she was so excited she would only let me get through about 2 pages and then she'd close it and go get another one. Then after reading for about 20 minutes, we went to story time. Again, loved it! Oh, I'm so enjoying this little girl. When it's just me and her all day at home, I feel like I did when I just had Cameron at home and we just played. I am actually thinking about starting a little music class at my house like I did at student housing. Jane would love it. It's so fun seeing things come alive in her eyes.

The boys both scored a goal in their soccer games today. They were SO happy! Cameron said, "Mom, it's cause I was SO aggressive." After he scored, he got a huge grin on his face and sheepishly made his way back to his spot on the field.
Braden scores and turns to me and Tom and jumps up and down yelling "YES", while streching his arms high in the air. It's pretty cute. I must capture it on film while it's still okay to cheer for yourself like that.
I'll bring the camera to next weeks game and hope for the same outcome!

Last eventful thing this week...
My sister, Emily, adopted a beautiful baby boy. After hearing about a situation only a week before the mother was to have a c-section, a massive chain of events unfolded and many miracles took place, resulting in baby Jacob joining their family. www.samandemily.blogspot.com Read about it if you are bored and want a blog to surf to. Start with the "Adoption background" post and read about their journey the last 2 weeks. It's not long, but it is amazing. We are so thrilled!

2009-09-11T16:16:00.000-07:00

We had a GREAT Labor Day weekend here in CDA with family visiting us! Maria flew up from SLC and Kirk flew in from Hawaii (Maria's boyfriend who came for a friends wedding here at the resort), Julienne & Richard & Jonny drove over from Seattle, and Dave & Channing & 3 kids drove over from Portland. It was all kindof a last-minute party and I'm so glad they all came!

Here is Janie LOVING her "Aunt Ria"

The kids were inseparable!
Happy Birthday to Maria! So glad we could sing to you and shower you with love!

The other day I was giving my kids a bath and I had to get a picture. The picture doesn't show how cute they were though. Jane just adores her brothers and she has a way of melting their hearts as well. What a bunch of blondies I have.
Okay so this is my first day of school picture. It's the best one, anyways. It was getting late, we had to go, it was super sunny, a little cool, and voila, here you have it. My first grader and second grader. It's been HEAVEN having school back in session!!!!!

I'm ready

2009-09-01T14:39:00.001-07:00

I think everyone else I know has started school already! We still have one more week!!! We've had an AMAZING summer but I knew this day would come. The day I would be ready for summer vacation to be over and school to start again.

I will say, we do get one last party at our house this weekend when Dave & Channing and 3 kids and Maria and Kirk come to hang out over the long weekend. One last "hurrah" and then it's early mornings and 8:00 bedtime!

Las Vegas Surprise

2009-08-18T12:35:00.000-07:00

Last week we flew to Vegas to surprise my family down there with an end-of-summer-fun trip! Jane LOVED her girl cousins!

We swam, swam, and swam some more at Greg & Whitneys pool. What else do you do when it is 105 degrees?

Oh, and you can play X-box, of course!

It was a constant party, and constant fun! I was so glad we decided to do it. We had some frequent fliers that were going to expire so we decided 3 days before to just jump on a plane that week!

Vegas tradition...bowling. Above...cam and marshall after BOTH getting strikes!

backyard

2009-08-07T16:19:00.000-07:00

We've done a few things with our backyard.

We finally got a swingset!!! I love it! We just finished it a few minutes ago and I couldn't wait to take a picture. The kids are loving it. Hopefully the novelty of it doesn't wear off too soon.

We also built a deck. Tom actually surprised me and had it done while we were in utah in June, but it finally got finished (with the exception of a few big colorful flower pots I have in store for it! But I love it SO much!

August???

2009-08-07T13:09:00.000-07:00

Could it really be August already? Where has the summer gone?

The Dance's have been pretty busy, but now we're home for the next 4 weeks to hang out, relax, play, and just do nothing so that we are really sick of each other and begging for school to start! Just kidding by the way. We NEVER get sick of each other! :)

The end of July took us to Seattle for a Family Reunion (Dance Family). It was at Zion's Camp, about 2 hours from Seattle, on the Peninsula. It was a great location with a little lake right on the property. We LIVED in the lake as it was super hot! And when I say that, I mean it. Temperatures were in the 100's, with highs breaking records at 106. It doesn't ever get that hot in Seattle! And because it never gets that hot, no one has air conditioning! Like I said, we lived in our swim suits!

Here are just a few pictures I took from Logan's blog (thanks guys) as I didn't take many pictures. Oops. I always seem to do that! Forget to take pictures, that is! The kids had a blast. I couldn't keep Jane out of the water. Really, she is a fish. Just unreal in the water. She loves it so much!

After the reunion, we went back to the Dance's where we roasted some more in the heat, and continued to be sleep-deprived with the constant up-late-at-night and babies-up-early scenario. Not that I always got up with the babies, I just heard them! :) We had a full house!

We stayed through the weekend b/c Tom's cousin, Jenna, got married on Saturday! Yippee! She looked amazing in her mothers wedding dress. Everything was great.

The only downer of the weekend is that Grandma Dance (looking beautiful and healthy in the first picture above), was rushed to the ER the night we got home from the family reunion. She had a severe infection in her body and golf-ball sized kidney stones. It was amazing she was at the reunion the whole time feeling good. Unfortunately, she is still in the hospital. No one knows how it will turn out, but she's been there a week and still can't breath on her own. She is in and out of sedation. We are all praying for her comfort.

2009-07-07T15:04:00.000-07:00

Rock & Roll half Marathon......Seattle (SO fun! Amaing scenery, loved running in the I-90 tunnel...who does that? Bands every mile, a little over-rated, but still a nice touch!)

4th of July.....Portland (Dave and Channing hosted us in their NEW home...cousins had a blast...dave made a home-made water slide down their hill with super heavy-duty plastic. Did I mention the kids had a blast? Oh, and I had a blast too!)

today....home....thank goodness! (our life is back to normal. Only one more trip this summer and the rest of the time it's Silverwood, the Beach, and hangin' out at home!)
before the race
4th of july...grandma got the kids all matching outfits!

The two blue-eyed beauties!

Aspen Grove 2009

2009-06-30T17:23:00.000-07:00

Once again, I stink at taking pictures! Maybe it's just b/c we had so much stinkin' fun that we didn't think to pull out the camera! Really, we did have a blast! I love my family. I love Aspen Grove!
Here is us at the family talent show!Jane just adored my dad! She would go to him before anyone else!Mom and Dad with all the grandkids. Pretty big group now!Here is Tom and Braden in our matching tie dye shirts.After Aspen Grove, we went to the Church Administration Building in SLC and Mom and Dad were set apart as mission president/missionaries. It was a really neat experience to meet Elder Nelson and really great that the whole family was there together!The cousins outside the temple. Our family, trying to smile into the sun!

The 3 amigos...troublemakers...friends! Cam loved tagging along with his buddy Marshall!

Another great Aspen grove! another great week! Mom & dad, see you in 2 years!

travel, travel, travel

2009-06-30T16:50:00.000-07:00

So it all started with a trip to Utah. We drove down for a family reunion and used 1 1/2 days on each end to visit with a few friends & family. I didn't get pictures of it all, as I am a terrible picture taker these days! I just forget all the time!

First, on our way down to the reunion, we saw my old roomie Tiff, and my kids just LOVED staying a night with them. All 3 of my kids are within a month of tiffany's kids (Braden and meg just a day apart). They really do have a bond. I think they'll be friends forever!

Jane found a bosom buddy in Camilla. They were two peas in a pod, chasing the kitten, running around the house. Seriously, the cutest things I have ever seen!Braden terrorized Meg, and she LOVED every minute of it! No shyness when my kids are with these kids!

Cameron and Cooper read a WHoLE Captain Underpants book in the few short hours we had there. They thought it was SO funny! They took turns reading aloud...so cute!

One reason I think they'll be friends forever is b/c here is my mom and her old college roommate who have stayed in touch all these years. My sisters and I got to be friends with Francie's girls 20 years ago and we've been great friends ever since. Heather even stayed with me in NY one summer for a few weeks! Now she has 3 kids (Kaden (Cameron's age), Kameryn (Braden's age), and Ellie (a year older than Jane)). We had a great afternoon visiting with them after our reunion. Francie made us a wonderful lunch in the park!I love cousins. We got to see some of my cousins on my mom's side that grew up on the East coast with us. Amy and Abby, my beautiful, fun, amazingly talented cousins that I haven't seen in YEARS! I'm so glad we got to spend a little time with them!
We also got to see Grandpa and Grandma Hawkes for a few hours. Always great to see them!

People I LOVED to see but didn't get a picture...

Sugarhouse friends and old neighbors...thanks for squeezing me in for the few hours we had!!!

Cam and Mandee...thanks for the guest room!!!

TheTree Family...thanks for letting us stay the night! So lucky to have family like you!

Writing about it, I'm amazed I fit it all in with the few short days I had, one before and one after our reunion at Aspen grove!

I wish we had more time b/c there are a million people I would have loved to visit with!

Seattle trip

2009-06-07T20:26:00.000-07:00

We had a fast and furious trip to Seattle last weekend for 2 major events... 1 eagle court of honor and 1 missionary farewell (actually 2).

1. the eagle court of honor. Why a trip for this? Well, because Tom's dad always imagined that when his 7th and final son got his eagle, that all of his boys would be together, in their scout uniform, to celebrate the occasion. How many families have 7 eagle scouts?

2. Jake, Tom's little brother, is heading to the MTC this wednesday where he'll be for the next 2 months before going to Paraguay for the next 2 YEARS!!! (His cousin, Blake, had his missionary farewell just 2 hours before Jakes in the same building, so we got to attend both!

Jane was not very happy about saying goodbye (or not happy about being held by a strange man)

With the whole gang together, we took some family pictures. A few different poses and some fun ones of the siblings...

It was also Braden's birthday weekend, so he got to have a HUGE family birthday party. He was so happy. I can't believe my boy is 6!

I had to post this picture of me and beautiful Kari because people always tell us we look like sisters. Seriously, when we are together, they wouldn't guess Tom and Jeff were brothers, but Kari and I were sisters! I'll take the compliment!
The boys had a blast with cousins, uncles, aunts, and grandma and grandpa.

Try to find Braden

2009-06-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

So we've had a TON going on here the last few weeks. This video is of Braden at his end-of-the-year kindergarten performance. I was cracking up the whole time. This went on for 25 minutes. Yes Braden is the ONLY one, seriously ONLY one just standing there. Oh well. Blame it on the shy genes from the Dance family.

More pictures to follow soon! :)

Happy Mothers Day!

2009-05-12T16:50:00.001-07:00

Luckily for me, my life has slowed down a ton! But of course, as soon as my calendar is clear, my children take up all of my time. Jane turned 18 months a few weeks ago and seriously, this week she snapped. She is suddenly independent. She has to do things herself. She SCREAMS when she doesn't get what she wants, she fights naptime, and despite her independence, she's decided she suddenly wants to put up a fight when I leave her with anyone or anywhere.

She gets into everything and on top of everything. Check this out...I decided to document her the last 2 days. I didn't get a picture of her lifting the toilet seat once again, or standing on top of the table, but here are a few others.

The places I find my daughter...

We just got our garden ready for planting, and NO JOKE, Jane did this herself! Dragged it all over, got in and started playing. All while we were cleaning up from mothers day dinner. She's got no clothes on b/c we just stripped her down after getting food all over her clothes. Who needs the beach?

Don't be fooled by the darling strawberry-messy-face smile...

And here is a picture of my crazy boys. The scouts delivered phone books to our garage for storage till they could deliver them tomorrow. The boys were so hyper.!

I just love being a mother! It really is a full-time job!

This is what Tom got me for Mothers Day...
Thanks honey! I LOVE IT!!! Now I can make 4 loaves of wheat bread at a time!

my crazy life

2009-05-05T10:04:00.000-07:00

ahhhhhhhhh! I'm sitting at the computer and blogging! Wow! My wheels have been spinning a hundred miles a minute the last two weeks. Now it's somewhat over, and I can breathe.

It all started about two weeks ago when Tom left for Utah.
Thursday:
I woke up and had big plans to remake our closets. They have been a mess since we moved in and I was determined to solve the problem before Tom got home. I had gotten a quote from a guy to build in closets, but after the $2600 quote I decided to do it myself. Off to home depot I went, and thanks to ClosetMaid, I did it with 1/3 the cost.
Friday-Sunday:
All weekend I was obsessed with building, and reading. Yup, I was hosting book group at my house Monday for lunch and had to start my book. So basically, I stayed up till 12:30 ''
/every night and was up at the crack of dawn with Jane. Did I mention I made it to TWO soccer games Saturday, one starting at 8:30am, with all the kids and their winter gear, as it was 45 degrees that morning?

Tom came home on Sunday night, and my closet project was not quite finished. That means my whole room had every bit of clothing and shoes layed out on every square inch of my bedroom floor.
Monday:
I had book group, managed to make lunch, and finish the book 15 minutes before everyone arrived. After book group, I cleaned up the house, and geared up for my next project...making 4 little beds in my house for visitors. After coming home that night from a double header basetball game (Hayden City Rec league...SO fun!!!), we got to have the gatten kiddos sleep over while Tim and Lizzy spent some time at an endo conference in FLORIDA! Let's just say we didn't get too many hours of sleep that night, but that's okay b/c the kids were great.
Tuesday:
Crazy... hanging out with 3-7 kids at any given time. After dinner, Tom and I picked up our house and prepared for a baby shower I was hosting that night. After a bit of craziness, and at about 10:45, it was over and everyone was gone.
Wednesday:
One more early morning...5:30 to be exact...and I got to relax, for about an hour at least. All 7 kids were dressed, hair combed, teeth brushed, looking great by 8:00am. My 4 house guests were picked up at 8:15, and I was able to then get ready for babsitting co-op at my house that morning. After co-op, I went to the store and prepared for my young women's activity at MY house that night where I was teaching the girls to make cinnamon rolls.

Here is a picture of the kids I had at co-op this week. I had to post a picture...6 girls! After constantly having a house full of boys (cameron,braden and friends) who would've ever thought I'd get a house full of girls?

Thursday:
I did some laundry, packed clothes, food, and the car and we left for Seattle the second tom got home from work. We got in around 10:00pm, and finally crashed in our beds around midnight.
Friday:
Julienne and I woke up early to catch a flight to Utah. Once there, we had a fabulous time with Maria, my sweet, beautiful, talented sister-in-law. She had her masters recital on Saturday night and so we spent our Friday and saturday preparing for that, mixed with a little shopping, eating out, and a lot of talking and staying up till 1-2:00am.
Sunday:
Up at 6:30am, heading back to Seattle. In at 10:30, just in time for 11:00 church where Jeff and Kari blessed their beautiful darling baby Brighton Ann. We enjoyed a fun-filled Sunday visiting with family all day before heading back to Coeur d'Alene.
Monday:
Unpack, laundry, go to bed at 10:30pm and get a full night sleep for the first time in 2 weeks!

Oh, and I finally finished the closets...

I still need a few baskets and a few more drawers, but it's 1000 times better than before!

save save save

2009-04-24T13:53:00.000-07:00

So I did it. After the Albertsons ad came out this week I knew it was going to be a good week for coupons. I have been saving some I clip from the sunday paper and I decided this was the week I'd really try to stock up on some of those things that were on sale. So I went to www.pinchingyourpennies.com and found the Albertsons ad for Idaho this week and hit the jackpot. I printed off about 14 or so more coupons (each one you print twice) thanks to that website linking me to manufacture's coupons around the web. What was my result?
8 boxes of cereal
3 betty crocker frostings
3 cookie mixes
6 boxes of different granola bars (we LOVE the fiber one chocolate bars...$0.20 each thanks)
3 boxes of brownies (one of those the "warm delights"...we'll see about that)
2 boxes South Beach cereal bars
2 egg beaters

What was my total? $30.35
What was my savings? 91.59

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T19:56:00.000-07:00

This year I REALLY slacked on taking Easter pictures! I didn't get any of our inside easter egg hunt (it was drizzling all day) and I didn't get the boys new Easter outfits like I do every year. I did manage to get a few snapshots after church today. By a few, I mean like 5 pictures total. So I feel lucky there are even any to post. The kids were not cooperating and Jane gave me one good smile and that was about it. Oh well!

The picture doesn't do this little dress justice. It has little flowers and sequins all layered into it. It really is darling. This was my absolute favorite baby gift! I've been waiting for it to fit!

My boys are getting so old! It's sad, but fun at the same time. Cameron is starting to LOVE reading and just gets books and sits and reads on the couch without me asking! WOW! I'll have to take a picture of that one!Jane is my little angel!

The Most Magical Place on Earth

2009-04-08T09:43:00.000-07:00

Disneyland!!!

What a blast! It was our first family trip to Disneyland and MY first time as well! And it really was amazing. I loved it way more than I thought I would. Everything was just so well done and clean and just magical! Did I mention I loved it? My kids did too!

We went with my brother & sister-in-law, Greg and Whitney, and their 3 kids. We couldn't have asked for better guides! We enjoyed all the best rides, got fast passes, stroller passes, and really got to see as much as we could in the 2 days we were there. We partied as long as we could and then crashed every night!

Jane got glasses. Isn't she cute! Actually, these are my niece, Marlee's glasses. I just thought jane was cute!

I wasn't sure how it would be with an 18 month old at Disneyland but it was actually awesome! We got stroller passes at every ride so after Tom took them, I got to go and take them again since I waited with Jane! She was a trooper, napping in the stroller, waiting in lines. She really just loved all the attention from cousins and had a blast! Our favorite ride (it was 80 degrees that day) in California Adventure...Grizzly rapids. Here is a before...

And here is the after...

My favorite rides were the Pirates of the Carribean, and this one...Indiana Jones! They were AMAZING! All the animated people. The kids kept asking me if they were real people. (Just a note on the Indiana Jones ride...Braden tried to get on but they measured him right before. He even got on his tippy toes and they ALMOST let him on till another worker came over and said "Hey, I think he's on his toes". It was SO funny! Poor kid really wanted to go. I guess there's next time!

We all loved the Bugs life movie and activities!

Can you believe it? I couldn't come all the way to disneyland and not get at least 1 picture with a character. So I did it. I waited in line for at least 25 minutes with braden and Jane while the others were waiting for a ride and I got my Mickey picture.

You had better believe this will be a tradition in our family... Disneyland at least every other year!

After Disneyland we visited the beach and the kids loved it! Who doesn't love the beach? It was 75 and sunny. Absolute heaven if you ask me!

After the beach we drove to Las Vegas where we visited with my family for 6 days. It was one of the best times I've ever had visiting vegas. My kids just bonded with their cousins, Jane LOVED the little girl cousins! We had 2 birthday parties, 1 baby blessing, 1 baby shower...it was just a big party! I'll have to post other pictures later. My mom took a bunch and I have to get them. I love my sisters (& brothers) & in-laws and really just wish they'd all move to Coeur d'Alene by me!!! Thanks guys, it was an amazing trip!

My latest purchase

2009-03-19T12:44:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited I finally bought myself a bike! I've been wanting one since we moved to Coeur d'Alene. Tom thought I should get a mountain bike or a road bike, but I picked out this beauty!

I can ride Tom's mountain or road bike if I want to, one advantage to being the same height as your husband, and I really wanted something to put a bike seat on for Jane (which I just bought from REI.com with my dividend and 20$ off!)and ride around town with the boys. There is a great new bike trail about 1/4 mile from my house and it goes down to the Croc center (the new HUGE community center opening in May) and on to the Riverstone Park (play at the park and eat Coldstone), and on to the city beach. The city beach is about 4 1/2 miles I think, so totally do-able with the kids on bikes. I'm really excited!
So here is Jane's latest. When you pick her up, she puts her arms around your neck and squeezes. It's so sweet.
This is how I found her the other day. She LOVES smoothies with the Magic bullet! She pulls everything out of my cupboards lately. Oh well, keeps her entertained while I cook!

Gotta love those teeth coming in! It changes her whole look! She's got 2 on the top, 4 on the bottom, and her molars are about popping though. We've had a few sleepless nights as she tries to pop them through.

I really should post a picture of the boys. I haven't been good at taking pictures lately! They look the same, but Braden did get a good scratch on his nose and cheek from "playing" last week with Cameron and Jackson. Crazy boys!

read this!!!

2009-03-12T15:33:00.001-07:00

http://www.laughyourway.com/blog/young-marriage/

My friend from high school, Susan, forwarded me this link and I REALLY enjoyed this article! I think you all would too! Cut and paste it into your web browser. I think you'll be forwarding it to your friends too!

To anyone who ever said I was too young to get married, too young to have kids yet, or that we have too many kids...HA!

Where is Omak?

2009-03-03T15:34:00.000-08:00

Tom works some weekends in Omak doing hospital cases Friday and Saturday. We decided that this trip we'd take the kids and go explore Omak. It is about a 3 hour drive from CDA. What is there to do there? Well, we stayed in a pretty nice place so we enjoyed the Continental breakfast (twice the first morning...the kids were up by 7 so we ate at 7:15 and then again at 9:30), swimming in the pool, we went bowling, to the Dollar store, visited Dad at work, went to the library, out to dinner, and swam and swam some more. It was a great little get-away and the kids had fun!

the woes of teething

2009-02-25T20:42:00.000-08:00

I used to think that when people said their kids were teething that it was just an excuse parents used to justify any behavior they didn't like in their child. Why is your child suddenly waking up 3 times each night? They are teething. Why do they have a runny nose and are so dang grumpy? They are teething.

Bologne. It's just an excuse. Or so I thought. And why did I think this? I had two boys, 18 months apart, who cut teeth and I didn't notice any change in behavior, sleeping, eating, etc.

Granted, I do think that the "teething" card is WAY overused, but now that I have a baby who is teething and making my life miserable (okay, I'm exhagerating a little), I finally get it, and I'm taking back any thoughts I had before!

When we left for the cruise, Jane had two bottom teeth. When we got home, she had cut one tooth and was close to cutting another. I get the term "cut" now. It hurts! She was so sad! She kept our babysitter up all night. When we got home, she had several cranky days and early mornings, up a few times at night, and then sure enough, the other one came through.

I got a break for about a week and a half when she was my normal, happy baby. Then, here we go again. This week has brought to me: a baby who is up at 5:45am crying, won't eat anything but smoothies with a straw, yogart, oranges, blueberries, and some milk. Seriously folks, that is IT. She won't eat. She refuses everything. She napped today for 45 minutes before waking up screaming. She is clingy and just cries in the middle of the day for no reason whether I'm holding her or not.

The result: 2 more bottom teeth in 4 days.

Conclusion: teething stinks! And I'm SO sorry for anyone going through it!

My happiest time of the day? See below:
ps. look at her fingernails. after watching sally get hers painted, she let lizzy paint hers! her first time. ohhhhh, my baby girl!

too smart

2009-02-20T08:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Jane pulled out the blender base (thug) dragged it around the bar to where our outlet is, got the plug, and tried to plug it in.

She loves to blow her nose. She grabs tissue after tissue and "blows" her nose. She is obsessed with toothpaste and toothbrushes. Tom caught her eating toothpaste yesterday. Nice.

She has TONS of words. I swear, she's talking so much more than my boys ever did at 15 months. She says "mama" "dada" "night-night" "nana" (banana), "nose", "eyes", "teeth", "book", and I know there are at least a dozen others. She just talks all the time! And she cracks me up when she plays with the boys. She LOVES to pay legos! When the boys are in playing, she goes and "builds" things with them. It is so funny!

OK, so as I'm reading this post, I realize I'm pretty silly. Every mom thinks her child is just so smart and above average. I am just her biggest fan right now and although she tears my house apart and makes me nuts at times, she is just so cute and I couldn't live without her!

On another note, the boys are finally getting over being sick and I will say, they are pretty darn fun right now too. They do punch each other sometimes and it makes me totally crazy, but they really are darling and I'm just loving the 7 going on 8 stage especially.

Here is a picture of Jane playing with Cameron this morning. She just tries to copy everything he does!

2009-02-12T15:00:00.000-08:00

tv.

I'm obsessed right now with tv. I know, it's horrible! I tape my favorite shows and then Monday through Thursday, 9:00 at night, my date with the television. It's my outlet. I love it. (and Tom joins me a few nights...he's hooked too!)

*The Bachelor...so good this season! Who's he going to choose? And Deanna's coming back! Ahhh!
*The Biggest Loser. ..Oh my gosh, so inspirational, as always! but i get so mad when they have immunity and cheat! like she really gained 2 pounds this week! bob put her up to it, i know it!
*The Office...never disappoints!
*American Idol...I'm totally loving this season! I never really get into it this early but I'm totally hooked. Loved hollywood week!
*Gray's anatomy...can't wait to see what happens this week!
*SURVIVOR...starts tonight!

See, not too much, but enough to say I'm a reality TV Junkie!
I'm not the only one, right?

oh, and i'm feeling totally better. thank goodness...mom's should never get sick!