The Day Phoebe Turns 7

I can't believe my baby turned 7 today.  I decided I would highlight her birthday from start to finish-

waking up another year older

this is what we woke up to -frigid temperatures. The high only reached 20 degrees. BRRR! taking that yesterday it was in the sixties.  Phoebe wasn't too happy waking up to snow-she likes it warm and she didn't even get a snow day out of it.

the birthday girl before she heads off to school where she would get to hand out cupcakes to her classmates, get sung to, and wear the special birthday shirt.



getting picked up from school by her dad



coming home to presents

she LOVES to do art- one of her brothers gave her these great doodle books that start a picture for you  and then you are supposed to finish it or they give you an idea of what to draw and design.

She got a "Kit" American Girl doll

She got the boots she's been pining for.  She also got a shirt, earrings, a game, and some barbies because she says all she has are Isabel's old ones.

she chose to go to Red Robin for dinner-next picture will tell you why.

She wanted to get sung happy birthday to by the wait staff.  I personally can't think of anything worse than being sung to in public -but Phoebe as you can see loved it!

She also chose to go to the high school play of A Christmas Carol

We came home to her favorite dessert-chocolate pie.  She also came home and pulled out her 2nd tooth in a week. Now she really can sing "All I want for Christmas are my two front teeth."

I think overall she had a pretty good birthday-she went to bed happy.

We all went around and listed the reasons we love Phoebe-
1-Oliver said she makes him laugh
2-Her dad said he loved that she is opinionated(she looked at me and says "You love me sometimes for that") which is true because we have some battles where there is major negotiations that go on before school. But overall I'm glad she knows what she likes and what she doesn't.
3-I love that she still loves to hold my hand and crawl into my lap
4-Miles loves her because she has a good fashion sense(weird for him to care??)
5-She cares about how others feel
6-She's smart
7-Isabel thinks she's sassy in a good way

Some of Phoebe's favorite things are:

color -green and red.

subject-math and reading

food-fried chicken, macaroni salad and sweet potatoes

she loves doing art projects, riding her bike or scooter outside with her brothers, and reading.

she loved playing soccer this fall and is excited to play in the spring.

 She loves school-I had her parent teacher conference yesterday where she had a glowing report. Her teacher says she is like a little grown up(I think that's a good thing??) I think because she's a pretty serious kid who is very focused about her work. Her teacher also said she  is always very willing to help anyone who needs it.  She is still very shy, she doesn't give a lot away with her expressions.  People at church think it's a challenge to get Phoebe to speak or smile at them. I like to think she's just careful-because if she knows you well -it's another story and she  has lots of little girl friends who she lets loose with and has fun. 

We completely LOVE her to bits! We hope this coming year is full of wonderful and magical things for her!

My Little Monsters

I am so EXCITED

My parents are coming for a visit today!

I'm in the Mood For.....

The most wonderful time of year is here!!! FALL!! And I'm so ready for it. So here is what I'm in the mood for-

• hot apple cider,caramel apples, toffee apple dip, baked apples, apple pie-you get the gist, anything apple will work.
• down throws to snuggle under
• sweater weather
• homemade doughnuts(I hope when my mom comes to visit she'll be up for doing this with me).
• pumpkins on the porch
• Halloween decorations
• books that I save for Fall reading-I tend to read with the season- books that take place on beaches, islands, etc. in summer, heartwarming, sappy christmas books in the winter, -historical, family dramas, magical, suspenseful books for fall.
• candles burning with fall scents
• new tv season-I know it's shallow-but I sat watching nothing during the summer and now I'm excited to watch my old favorites-Parenthood, The Good Wife, Modern Family and new favorites- Ringer, Person of Interest, The New Girl
• Soups, Stews, Roasts, Butternut Squash, Parsnips, pumpkin dump cake, pumpkin bread  and all the other yummy comfort food!
• General Conference-good reason to take a weekend off from work to fill my bucket.
• A new fall wreath for my front door. So many cute ones in blogland to be inspired by-now I just have to find the time to make one-felt, yarn?? can't decide yet...
• leaves changing-and a bite of cool in the air.

Now if we could just get out of having 86 degree days!

My Two Girls

With September brings busy things for my girls.  Phoebe started soccer which she is super excited about.  Her turn has finally come-she sat through watching spring lacrosse with Oliver and summer baseball with Miles. I told her she had her turn in the fall.  She actually has come out of her shy little shell with soccer which makes me happy and sends Trent over the moon that one of his kids shows interest in soccer.  It's funny to watch her soccer games-it's like watching the running of a herd.  This last game her coach said that they had to pass the ball 5 times before they could make a shot on goal and we started to see an actual team playing what finally looked like soccer ;) 

 Isabel had her homecoming week this past week.  She is in Student Council this year which made her a very busy girl-with float decorating, decorating class halls, dancing in the homecoming game, parade, decorating for the dance and finally the Homecoming dance on Saturday. I told her I would host a dinner for all of her friends that night.  So she invited 11 of her friends over for a dinner before the dance.  My friend Erika worked her decorating magic and made it look special for Isabel and her friends.  Shout out to my friends Erika and Nicole who served as my kitchen wenches and outdid themselves as always, thank you!  Isabel had a great time.

Isabel in her words not mine- looking "2 sassy"

Isabel and the girls-from left to right Alyssa, Maddy, Isabel, Lauren,Mallorie,Torri,Kelsi,and Rachel

The guys-L to R-Aidan,Joel, Eric and Michael

The tables



10 Things That I Love About You

Miles turned 10 today. I can't believe it . We moved back to Colorado when Miles' was 5 months old and here it's been 10 years already.  Miles' will always hold a special place in my heart. Heavenly Father gave him to me when I was told not to have any more children. I always will think of him as my miracle, Heavenly Father showing me that I could. 
A tradition we have started in our family is listing the reasons we love that person with as many reasons as they are old.  So here is our list of 10 things we love about Miles........

1.He is BRAVE/FEARLESS- he will try anything whether it be a strange food, a new experience, a ride at an amusement park.  He's not really afraid of anything except natural weather disasters.  Our tornado a few years ago did him in on that one.

2. He is POLITE- Always holds the door open for his mom and sisters, along with strangers for that matter.  He always remembers to say thank you to his teachers, coaches, and leaders.

3.Miles still wants to "HUDDLE" (that's what Trent says boys do instead of calling it hugging.)  He still will climb up on the couch and snuggle, always seeks out a good night kiss and hug, and sometimes out of nowhere just come and get a hug.  I hope this is something he will never out grow.

4.He is PERSISTENT- when he decides he is interested in something, he will practice and practice until he gets better, and learns all there is about it.  Miles took up baseball this past summer and has become obsessed.  He goes out EVERY night and either practices throwing or hitting until dark, has taken up watching MLB ALL the time, baseball is the only sport he wants to read about.  He has found a series of books about baseball heroes that he is reading and loves it.

5. He always says he is SORRY- No matter what he has done, Miles will always come and apologize to whoever he has done or said something too.  It's another reason he is brave, it takes guts to say your sorry.

6.He is HELPFUL- even if he doesn't want to do something he will, just to be helpful.  He really never complains about it at all. He is helpful with small children, he is helpful to his teachers at school, and he is helpful with others who need help.  He started tutoring kids in reading twice a week before school and loves it.

7.He is FUNNY. I am told by his teachers at school, at church, by his classmates how funny Miles is and how he loves to make others laugh.  He does it all the time at home.

8.His MOVES- Only his family will ever know this-but as a stress reliever he does these super hero moves that I really can't describe but he crosses his arms and does this face when he thinks no one is watching and gets a little embarrassed when you catch him doing it.  I've asked him what he is pretending when he does it -but his answers are pretty vague.  I guess everyone needs their own secrets-  I think it's pretty adorable.

9.He is EASYGOING- of all my children he goes with the flow the most.  He's not really demanding, laid back, not picky about  really anything.

10. His SMILE.  If anyone knows Miles, you know that his smile is magic, that it lights up his face. He always has it ready to give.........even when he's mad I can get him to smile.

Use Your Imagination

Our big project the last few months has been redoing our kitchen. I didn't take any pictures of before, which I could kick myself now for doing because it is hard to appreciate how much better it looks now than what it was before.  That's where using your imagination comes in.... Our house was built in 1985 and had the original golden oak cupboard where the finish was starting to come off and they just looked sad.  We had cream formica countertops that absolutely did nothing for the room. The floor is what I HATED the most, every time I cleaned it which was at least twice a day, I would curse it! It was white linoleum that looked dirty all the time even after mopping it. We also had a stainless steel sink that looked like it had better days.  Needless to say it needed some love.  Trent and I did everything except installing the countertops, it's nice to have my own personal handyman. I'm really happy with the results, it's amazing what it has done for the space.

Amazing what a coat of white paint will do for sad cupboards, and adding hardware totally changed the look of the cupboards.

Here are the new countertops-black added so much more warmth than the cream did before



Here's a glance at the new sink-I decided on white porcelain instead of stainless since we don't have anything else stainless in the room. It's a much deeper sink which makes a much bigger difference than I thought it would. I didn't realize I had such a shallow sink before.



And here is my favorite part of all-the floors-so much prettier if I do say than UGLY white linoleum.  Trent did an amazing job. We also added the beadboard and trim for a finishing touch.

This was just a little side project that I did for my birthday with a little help from my friend, Erika. I have been wanting to do a gallery wall in my living room for awhile to fill the big wall above my sofa. I decided on the theme home. The thought that wherever you are is home.  I framed a bunch of maps of all the places Trent and I had lived before adding in a few pictures of family. It turned out just the way I wanted it to and fills the space so much better than the one picture that was there before.

I mostly posted this for my mom to see, since I have been promising forever to send her pictures. I finally decided this is the easiest route to post them.  So anyone else who reads this-thank you for indulging me.

SCHOOL DAYS, SCHOOL DAYS DEAR OLD GOLDEN RULE DAYS READIN' AND 'RITIN' AND 'RITHMETIC-

So another school year has begun. Phoebe and Miles actually started school July 27th-but I've been waiting to post pictures when Isabel and Oliver started on August 22nd. Summer flew by but I think for most of my kids they were ready to head back to school.


Miles headed into 5th grade-and his last year in elementary school.  His teacher is Mrs. Gelfand who he seems to like a lot.  She loves to read and has a Masters in reading. I'm hoping that she will be able  pass this onto Miles. Miles is a good reader, he just doesn't love it.  He is training to tutor kids in reading before school and loves it.  This proves to me what I already knew, is that Miles really enjoys helping people. He loves science and math so far, and loves being the class clown.  I think he likes making people laugh.

Phoebe started 1st grade-and going all day to school.  So far she loves it. Going all day wore her out at first, but now she seems to be in the swing of things.  I am glad that we don't have to leave for school until 8:25 because Phoebe is not an early riser. She likes to take her time getting out of bed!  Her teacher is Mrs Wenz, who was also her kindergarten teacher(she moved up a grade). This is great for Phoebe because she is already comfortable with her.  Phoebe loves having homework like all the other kids and loves going to specials(art, p.e., music,computers, etc.).  Her favorite subject is math-I don't know where that came from.  Phoebe who is usually really quiet is not at school according to her teacher, which I'm very glad to hear :)
 

 

Oliver started 7th grade, and has got the middle school thing down.  He started taking Spanish this year which he thinks is cool and is also looking forward to taking his encore class, Mythbusters. Encore class is his last period class where  they take a "fun" class.  They switch classes every quarter.  Like every other middle school boy I know- It's hard getting information out of him. I ask how school was and I get "fine", "good", "I don't know."  I'm going to have to think of different interrogation techniques to get information out of him.



Isabel is in 11th grade-I ask myself all the time-how is she already a junior???  This is going to be a very busy year for Isabel. She will study for and take the ACT, she is in Student Government (they are already working on planning for Homecoming), in National Honors Society,  training  dance company , and is taking a hard load of classes.  Isabel loves school and loves learning.  So far she loves all her teachers and thinks all her classes are going to be great (I'm sure I will have to remind her of this in the middle of the school year).

I hope this will be great school year for all of them, It's fun to watch them experience and try new things out.  I can't believe all my kids are in school full time-it's been 16 years where I have had someone at home with me-it's bittersweet I will tell you. Luckily with year round school I won't be alone for long, Miles and Phoebe track off September 22nd and will be home with me for 3 weeks. It's a good way to ease into this alone thing.

What happened to the summer?

I can't believe it's been over a year since I last posted. I have no excuses. I also realized I can't play catch up... its too hard. So, we'll just look at Summer- how it came and went in the blink of an eye.

Last day of school for everybody. Big day for Phoebe  where she graduated kindergarten and our  Summer began.

We did a little bit of hiking.

4th of July

Is summer really summer without sno-cones? 

What people do for free food (dressing up like a cow got you free food at Chik-fil-a)

Oliver went to 2 scout camps.

Fun in the sun.

Cooling off in the pool.

Look, she turned 16. How did that happen?!

Making a wish for dates and cars....

Family reunion at the lake

Oliver playing lacrosse... number 22 in the weird shorts

I introduced my kids to shaving cream fights

They loved it.

Isabel and Oliver trying to "cream" their dad.

Oliver turned 12 and made me realize he isn't a little boy anymore.

Oliver the day he received the priesthood.

Hanging with friends.

 Shaving their heads to support their cousin/niece, Brooke, who was diagnosed with cancer. The girls couldn't bring themselves to do it.

And there you have it, summer has come to a close. We crammed quite a bit in, there was also girls camp, youth conference, Miles playing summer baseball, trip to Utah, Grandma Hart visiting, frozen yogurt, staying up late, board games, rootbeer floats, smores, and movies. I don't know if I'm really ready to have it all be over. Oh well, what can you do?