Random and Pointless Photos!

So we all know that we just like to be silly and have fun at our house, right? Well, here are some pictures to prove it.Savannah thinking it is so fun to wear Mom's glasses. Honestly, only people with perfect 20/20 vision want to wear glasses just for fun.

Charlotte and Mom. You don't know how difficult it was for me to have these pictures taken, let alone post them- because everyone knows how much I HATE having my picture taken, right? But, it was hard to edit myself out of the pictures and still get the cute photo of the kids, so.......

We were trying to get a nice picture of me cuddling Char, but she just wanted to make silly faces!
Savannah and Mom. Savannah actually likes to sit nicely and pose....sometimes. This is one of my new favorite pictures!

Barrett and Mom. Bear is just fun and silly personified. It was a struggle to get him to sit still long enough for a nice picture with Mommy.

I can't remember where or why these feathers came to our house, but here they are, and Charlotte thinks they are awesome tickle-toys!!


I LOVE this picture of Charlotte. She looks so sweet, so funny, and so coy all at the same time.

This is a very short clip of Charlotte dancing at the Festival of Trees. She LOVES to perform, and like her Daddy, shows absolutely no signs of being nervous or afraid.

So, there you have it. Random and pointless photos to show how much we love being silly and fun!!! I love random photos, don't you?!?!

In Remembrance

Boston DeVon Willden

December 18, 2008 ~ January 23, 2009Happy First Birthday, little man!

We love you, we miss you, and we are praying for your sweet Mommy today, as she faces your first birthday without you here to cuddle, and to sing to, and to hold in her arms.

We miss you, Boston!

Why I Should Not Be Allowed To Clean Up Dinner...

Apart from the fact that it's just not fun, but I almost always forget to put something away. Plus, I am notorious for not rinsing the dishes very well before I put them in the dishwasher, so quite often, there are funky little food particles floating about in the bottom of the silverware-cleaning-rack-thingie.

But, this is what I did last night....I cleaned up after dinner, put the dishes in the dishwasher (after not rinsing them well enough, I am sure), and then wiped off the table and counters, and called it good.

Apparently, however, I failed to check the inside of my oven.

Which brings me to this point in time.

Yep, I left the meatloaf in the oven.

Grrrrrr!!!

I happen to LOVE my meatloaf. Colby LOVES my meatloaf.

If I may be so bold, I make a very tasty and delicious meatloaf! And what did I do? I left it in the oven all night long, only to discover it mere moments ago.

Now, no meatloaf leftovers.

But, I do still have the scrumptious smell of meatloaf to torture and torment me.

Grrrrrr.

Letters

So for family home evening tonight, the kids wrote their letters to Santa Claus. They had so much fun telling him what they wanted, and decorating the letters too!This is the first page of Charlotte's letter. She still writes pretty big, so it took two pages! Her letter says: "Dear Santa, I've been really good. Will you bring..."

"....me a castle and a princess. Charlotte"
She was pretty proud of her stamped-marker decorations, and she was quite proud that she wrote all the words by herself, just like Savannah!

This is Barrett's letter. With a little help from Daddy, he wrote:
"Dear Santa, I love you. I have been really good. Will you please bring me a skateboard and a Handy Manny tool bench."
He was very excited to use markers to color his letter, since Barrett's mommy is a meanie, and very, very rarely allows the kids to use markers! (She prefers crayons- much less messy.)

Savannah wrote: "Dear Santa, I love you! I have been really good this year. Will you bring me a skateboard with Pooh on it and a DS. Love Savannah"
She almost asked for an Eeyore something, but then changed her mind and tried to erase it. And just in case Santa Claus is behind on the latest electronic gaming, Savannah colored him a picture of a Nintendo DS. She tries to help him out!

It was so fun to see them write these, and to see how excited they are for Santa to come.
Only 15 more days to go until the magic holiday that all kids live for!!!

Concert Time

The concert announcement I have been waiting for has finally been made! After months of anxiously checking the band's website every day for any information on the U.S. tour, I am so very excited and overjoyed to announce that MUSE will be in Salt Lake on Monday, April 5th!! YES!!!! And, as if that wasn't enough to make me feel Christmas has come early, the opening act will be Silversun Pickups. How cool is that!!!

Now, the wait begins.....

only 118 more days until the big show!!!

Things Kids say

Don't you think that kids say the darndest things?!

Just now, I gave Barrett a great big hug and a kiss, and while hugging him, said,
"Oh, you are so cute I could just eat you all up!"

To which Bear replied,
"No, I said you can eat Daddy all up when he gets home. Eat Daddy, not Bear Bear."

Funny litte boy!!

Pickle-Chiffon Pie

So, everyone knows how much I love books, right? I love, Love, LOVE to read. Allow me to share this wonderful story about this wonderful book with you.

This book, "Pickle-Chiffon Pie" by Jolly Roger Bradfield, was Colby's very most favorite book from his childhood. Unknown to me, Colby has been secretly searching for this book for the last thirteen years. Yep, the past 13 YEARS!! He loved this book as a child, and was so hoping to find it, and share it with his children. He had forgotten the title of the book, the author, and anything else that could help him locate it. Then, apparently after almost 13 years, he was beginning to despair of ever finding it, and so he asked for help.
(Honestly, isn't that so like a man!!! "I can do it; I don't need help; I can find it; I don't need instructions; etc!!!)
Well, long story short-ish, the book had been out of print for several years, which was why he had such a hard time finding it. It has just been reprinted in the last year or two, and we happened to stumble upon it! Well, after wading and poring and searching through several websites, search engines, and some good old-fashioned sleuthing, that is!

We found it, and ordered two copies: one for the kids, and one for Colby and I to keep.
I had never heard of it, and consequently, had never read it before. It is wonderful! The illustrations are so fun, and the story is just amazing.

If you get a chance, find a copy and read it to your children. If not to them, get a copy and read it for yourself. It is a most wonderful book, and you will not regret it.

***Post Update 12/4/09***
So, Charlotte took this book to school for show-and-tell today. When I picked her up, her teacher Miss Lani told me that she and the other teacher, Miss Linda had such a fun time listening to Charlotte. She held up the book, explained that it was her Daddy's favorite book, and then turned to the page that had the illustration of a lion wearing roller skates while juggling a dozen apples and a bottle of ketchup. Apparently, Charlotte was giggling and laughing so hard, that it was almost impossible to understand what she was saying. It was quite infectious; it caused all the kids in her class to start giggling uncontrollably, and things just spiralled from there!! See, a truly fine book! You just can't get a better review than a classroom full of 16 preschoolers and 2 teachers giggling hysterically over a book!
I'm so glad I let Charlotte take the book for show-and-tell today!