Barrett rocks!

I have already explained why my kids are the coolest, and yet, here I offer further proof.........

when we clean the house, I always put in a CD or two, and rock out. I mean, if I have to clean, why not at least have an awesome soundtrack to the cleaning, right? So this morning, it was Barrett's turn to pick the "cleaning music." His choice.........Yep, Dead or Alive!! And if that isn't cool enough, his second choice was........

The awesome Pet Shop Boys.

See, my son is soooooo cool! He picked out two very sweet CDs to listen to, all on his own, without any coaching or persuasion on my part!
Just don't tell my darling sister Steph!

Top Five Lists

I know it has been a while. So I thought I might post a few things that have been on my mind the past little bit. Nothing tremendously important, or amazing, or groundbreaking, but, oh well!


The Top 5 Reasons I Love Barrett:
1. At this point, I think he has the cutest and most adorable little voice in the universe. Seriously. I could listen to him talk all day long, and just smile. It is kind of hard to get angry at him, or try to discipline him sometimes. His little-boy voice is just sooooooo adorable, I usually melt. Love it.

2. He has an adorable smile and giggle!!

3. He is quite a Super Hero geek, just like his Daddy. Maybe it should concern me, but it doesn't. There is something completely and utterly adorable about a nearly-four-year-old boy who can hum the Superman theme music; who lifts his arms up, and before taking off at a ridiculously fast pace, says "To the rescue!!" and other such Hero geekiness. I kind of hope he never outgrows it. Batman Forever, Bear Bear!!

4. He makes the funniest faces! He has a wide range of smiles and smirks and lopsided grins that just make me laugh!!

5. This is my favorite, mostly because I think it will most likely become a less and less frequent occurrence as he gets older. So I cherish it for now. Barrett will come up to me, at totally random times during the day, and say "Mom, I so much love you." Or he will say things like "Mom, you are such a pretty girl," or other such (sweet and sincere) lies that he has learned from hearing his Dad say them to me all the time. I am sure that the day will eventually come when he won't tell me how he so much loves me, or that he thinks I am a pretty girl- that would be a total cramp in his style. Oh, how I do love my little Barrett!

Top 5 Reasons I Love Charlotte:
1. Once again, her delicate and fragile and girlie voice. She just sounds like a Princess, and I love that about her. She is so girlie, and so twirly, and so fluffy, and so Princessy, but in a good way. Love it!

2. She is soooooooo sassy! Maybe this should bother me more, but, for some reason, it just doesn't. Charlotte has some serious fire and sass in her personality, and I love it. She actually reminds me of my Granny East. She was a tiny thing, not even 5 feet tall, about 90 pounds at the most, but she was a spunky and fiery and sassy lady! I loved that about her, and I love that Charlotte has some of that. Granny passed away when I was in high school, so Charlotte never had the chance to meet her here, but I am sure that Granny was teaching Charlotte up in heaven, making sure that the sass and fire keeps going.

3. She likes to read. The same books and stories, over and over and over and over and over again, but I love it. I am glad that she loves to read.

4. Her favorite colors are Pink, Light Pink, Dark Pink, Princess Pink, Tinkerbell Pink, Baby Pink, Shockingly Bright Pink, Cotton Candy Pink, and any other variation and shade of pink that you could possibly imagine. Pink Power forever, Charlotte!!!!!

5. Her awesome and funny face that she makes whenever she "plays" Guitar Hero with Colby. She likes to "play" the bass, and she takes it very seriously. She makes the most focused, concentrated, and Rock Star Chick face ever. I love it!


Top 5 Reasons I Love Savannah:
1. She has the most enormous deep green eyes I have ever seen! I LOVE her eyes. I always said that if I ever had kids, that all I wanted was for them to have Colby's eyes. They can suffer through life with whatever they were unfortunate enough to inherit from me, but at least inherit their father's huge, amazingly deep green eyes. If they get his excellent vision as well, even better....so far, so good on that!

2. Her tender, emotional and sincere little heart. Savannah is the most sensitive and sweet girl in the universe. And what's more important and amazing, is that she is incredibly sincere as well. She is not in the least fake or artificial, she really is very sweet, kind, and loving. I love it.

3. She pretends that she doesn't have a massive crush on the Jonas Brothers, which I think is sooo funny and cute. She gets all red and embarrassed whenever anyone brings it up, and it's just funny. But, she really does like them, and she really thinks they're soooooooooo cute, and it is so adorable. I wonder if my parents thought it was funny and adorable when I was her age, and had a major thing for Martin Gore. Oh wait, I still do......oh well, don't judge me.

4. She pretends to like me, and to think it's okay if I am "myself" around her friends. Now, that may not seem like a big deal, but, let's be honest- I am really kind of a dork, and kinda crazy, and to a nine year old, that spells certain doom if ever her friends see that. Bless her heart, she likes me anyway, despite my innate nerdiness!!

5. She is such a Daddy's girl. I cannot even tell you how much I love that. It just makes my whole heart swell with joy whenever I see her with Colby. She adores him, and she loves being with him, and playing with him, and talking to him. Honestly, it does make me a teeny bit jealous sometimes (or a lot of the time), but I really do love how much she loves him, and looks up to him.


And, finally, my darling sister Steph's Top 5 Reasons Why I Should Be A Little Worried and Embarrassed and Concerned:
1. All three of my kids know ABBA songs. Lyrics, humming the tune, the whole thing. They have a disco thing going on, and it just disturbs Steph greatly!

2. They all know Depeche Mode songs. Same thing, lyrics, music, all of it. Very sad, to Steph.

3. They all know Erasure songs. Even sadder than Depeche Mode, according to Steph!

4. They all love New Orleans Saints football. Well, as much as Charlotte can love football, anyway...... But, this is plain devastating, because Steph thinks the Oakland Raiders are the only team that should exist in football.

5. That I do not color, highlight, or otherwise "improve" my hair!! I keep trying to tell her that it is a wasted effort, because my hair is sooooo blonde that any color just fades in a week, at the most; and I can't highlight any lighter, or I'd look like a platinum blonde bimbo, and I just don't think I could pull that look off even if I wanted to; plus, I just don't care enough. Which, to Steph, is the most sad and grievous part of it all, I should care more about my hair, my clothes, whatever, and I just don't. Oh well. At least I really love baseball, and my favorite team is the Boston Red Sox, so that has saved me in her eyes, at least a little!!!!!

Because I Love Him!!!!

I happen to adore my Colby!!

He is the coolest, most awesome and funny guy in the universe.

Today we celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary.

Happy Anniversary, Colby!

Here's to us!!!

Charlotte's New Pictures

These are the new pictures of Charlotte! I cannot believe my little baby girl is going to be FIVE!! Where has the time gone? She had such a fun time getting her picture taken, she really does love being in front of the camera. She is such a doll, and we love her so much! Enjoy!

This is one of my favorites! I love how excited she was at having a bunch of flowers in the picture!

And then, tossing them up in the air!

Funny face!

Flower girl!

Another silly funny face! How come she is still so pretty and cute when she makes funny faces?!!

So pretty!

I love this picture. First of all, I am a sucker for a sepia-tone photo, and second, this just captures Charlotte's personality so well. Mellow, laid-back, and relaxed!

Look how tall she has gotten!!

I love this picture! She looks so sweet and angelic. Love it!

This pose was one of Charlotte's ideas. She wanted to hug her knees and show the photographer her cute lime-green socks! She is so funny!

Charlotte LOVES this picture. She was quite pleased to have the biggest pink flower right by her face.

I must admit, this one is my very favorite! There is just something about her funny little personality that really shines through in this picture! I love it!

So, there you have it- the latest and greatest pictures of my
Darling, Sweet, Adorable, Lovely, Funny, Gorgeous Blue-Eyed Beauty!

Girls Night!

I just wanted to post really quick, and say "Thank You" to my dear friends for the fun Girl's Night Out tonight. It was so fun to get together and have a night out, talking and laughing so much that the employees at Rumbi were surely laughing at us!!!!
However, we missed you Linda- you have to make it next time!

And, in almost-typical Dani fashion, I have no pictures of our fun night- but not because I forgot the camera, as I usually do. Nope, this time I remembered my camera, I even got it out of my purse and everything, I just flat-out forgot to take any pictures!
That's what happens when I am having so much fun talking and laughing with my friends!

Football Brings Out The ____ In People...

Today, as we were watching the football game, it occurred to me that football can bring out the best and worst in people.
Let me explain.


Colby has always been a New Orleans Saints fan. For baseball, it's the Red Sox, for football, it's the Saints. Today, the Saints are playing against the Minnesota Vikings. Obviously, we want the Saints to win, not only because they are the household favorite team, but also because we DETEST Brett Favre. Since it is Sunday, and I should probably be truthful and honest, we would be not-very-sad if Brett Favre sustained some form of injury in this game. We'd like the Saints to win, and not only that, but we'd like to make the Vikings suffer a terrible and humiliating and ego-crushing loss.


It didn't turn out quite that way. At the time of this post, the Saints were tied, but awaiting the outcome of a challenged play, that, if goes in our favor, would put the Saints on top.

But, just a few minutes ago, something happened, and it appeared that Brett Favre was hurt. Now, Barrett and Colby have been yelling and shouting "Come on Saints!" and "GO GO GO GO GO!!" at the top of their lungs the whole game. So, when we saw that Favre was probably hurt, we were all not-so-secretly rejoicing!!

Except for Savannah.

The dreaded killjoy that she is, in all her amazing sweetness and niceness and goodness, said something like "Oh, how sad, he's hurt bad!" To which we replied something like, "Who cares? It's not only a Viking, but it's Brett Favre. Yay, injuries!"
Then Savannah said, in all seriousness and sincerity, "It doesn't matter which teams they're on, we should be worried and care about everyone the same."

Obviously, Savannah does not understand football at all!!

But, she does understand genuine kindness.
How on earth did she ever come from me?

Mom's Book Report

So I love to read. I don't really get to read as much as I used to, or would like to. But I have been reading a lot more often the

past few months.

Just a small piece of advice, though....DO NOT try reading when you are trying to stay awake on a graveyard shift!! Not very effective. It is quite effective at making you feel very, very sleepy very, very quickly, however.

Anyway, I have been reading more these past months, and I'm not sure if it's because of Savannah's age, or the fact that she likes to read, or what, but I have been reminded of all the wonderful books I read when I was her age. So, I thought I would give you a small book report on my reading lately! Aren't you excited? Well, you should be!

These are the "Spiderwick Chronicles" books. They were only published in the last few years, but I read them because Savannah received them as a Christmas gift in 2008, and since she did not read them, I thought I would. They were fun. Savannah has since read the first two books, and even did a book report on the first book for school this year. Nice!

These are the "Anne of Green Gables" book series. This is actually the exact same set I had as a kid! I have to admit, though, I only read the first three books in the series, and they were not my favorites. I have only seen a few episodes of the TV series that was produced when I was a kid, and I wasn't a huge fan of them either. Apparently, I am just about the only girl who has read these books, and not really fallen in love with them. Oh, well.

These are the "Little House on the Prairie" books. These are the same exact books I had as a kid, and that I still have!!!! I LOVED these books. I bet I have read these about 15 times each, and I love them just as much every time I read them. I have tried to get Savannah to read them, and she just doesn't seem very interested in them at all. You know what? It almost hurt my feelings!! Isn't that weird? I totally adore these books, and I almost take it personally that she doesn't like them, not yet anyway. So, since she won't read them, I am currently reading them again. I am on the fourth book right now. It has been at least 15 years since I read them last, so this has been so fun!!! And yes, I realize it's just a wee bit lame-o that I am so wounded over my daughter not liking the same books I do, but....

I'm working on it!!
:o)

These are the "Chronicles of Narnia" books. I loved them and read them all as a kid. I actually re-read the whole series about a year ago, and I was surprised at how much I still loved them. I think I had an entirely different perspective reading them as an adult, compared to reading them at the age of eight. Savannah won't read these either. She just likes to watch the films. Grrrrr!!

These are the "Wrinkle in Time" books. I know I read all of them in third grade, and so I bought them for Savannah for her birthday last year thinking she would love them too. Any guesses on how sharp and accurate I was?!?!?! Yep, you were probably right- she has zero interest in them! So, I read them all again. Kind of funny, I remembered the first book pretty well, but the second and third books did not seem familiar to me at all. I liked them all though.

"Island of the Blue Dolphins." I know I read this one a few times and loved it. Savannah just barely got this for Christmas, so we'll see how long until I realize that she has no interest in it either, and then I will read it again!!


I have had a lot of fun reading these "children's" books, and maybe I will start reading "big people" books again someday,
but I don't think it will be any time soon. First I need to finish the "Little House" books,
and then I think I am going to re-read "Sherlock Holmes" again!


And then, I am going to try and pound it into my head that Savannah does not have the same taste in books as I do!

Ha! Good luck with that one..........I know........

Happy New Year!!

For New Year's Eve this year, we decided to let the kids stay up as late as they wanted to, and if they pooped out before 2010, so be it. And honestly, for our kids, staying up until 9:30 is staying up REALLY LATE, so it was an ambitious goal for them!!

We decided to eat dinner, and then watch a movie and let the rest of the night unfold. The movie we watched:

"George of the Jungle" with Brendan Fraser.

It was so funny! Yes, we realize the movie was produced in 1997, and therefore not new at all, but we had never seen it, so it was new to us!

The kids LOVED it! They were giggling like hysterical maniacs throughout the whole film! And afterward, they were jumping off the chairs and couches- hands outstretched as though holding a vine- and yelling like Tarzan.....or George, in this case!

It was so funny, and Colby and I were laughing like maniacs watching them!

So, Happy New Year!!

We hope that your 2010 is a good one, worthy of jungle-swinging, Tarzan-yelling laughter!

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!