"Bucket Seating"

When I have things to do around the house (in this case, folding laundry) I give Presley a bucket of toys to unpack, repack, and occassionally actually play with. She has recently decided that sitting IN the bucket with the toys makes them more fun to play with.

I'm just happy I can work on a task for 10 minutes at a time now. I only care that she's sitting in it when it falls over and she cries.

(Not quite a) Water Baby

When we went to Wisconsin this past month we spent 5 days in the water.  Presley was a tad bit hesitant at first....see, my kids don't take baths- they shower, so she just did not know what to do when we went to put her in the water.  It didn't help that the water wasn't all that warm.

I got a series of pictures with Aunna putting Presley into the water, I was cracking up.  The poor girl was having none of it!

She was much better once we took her out of the water and gave her some snuggles.

By the end of the week she couldn't get enough of the water and cried when we took her OUT.

She LOVED playing on the swing

She also loved going down the slide with Ariane

She was fascinated by the frog spitting water

She loved just getting around in the water, she crawled and walked endlessly

There were so many fun things to climb on, she had a ball



We had such a great trip! 

Maybe one of these days I'll blog about the other 2 kids, but Presley is just so stinkin' cute!



Doughnut days

My dad loves doughnuts.  That is where I have gotten my love of doughnuts. I have friends that don't like them, and all I can think is, "What is wrong with you?  How can you not love doughnuts???"  He has an uncanny ability to find a doughnut shop anywhere we go.  He can leave a hotel room in a new city, start driving or walking, and without getting lost, find the nearest bakery.  It's somewhat of a family joke to us all. 

So, obviously, his favorite thing to do with the kids is to take them to get doughnuts once each time we visit.  While we were in Wisconsin last week we did our doughnut morning the first morning we were in town, and Madison got to go along with him to help with the family doughnut run.  She LOVED it.  She got her favorite- doughnut holes. Yum!

***As a side note, when I was about Madison's age I used to go visit my dad's parents in Minnesota during the summer all by myself (when you're the oldest of 6 girls, one-on-one attention was rare, and coveted).  Over the course of the few years I got to stay there, those weeks with my grandparents became some of my most treasured memories, I would look forward for the chance to visit with them all year long.  As my anticipation of summer break started getting closer I would call my grandmother up and ask when I could come visit.  I adored my grandparents (both sides, but for some reason I went to my dad's parents alone and Alyssa went to my mom's.  Funny, huh....).  Anyway, during the week I visited my grandmother took me to work with her at the college for one day and my grandfather would take me to get a doughnut one morning.  I loved that special one-on-one time with them.  I really believe there is a special bond between grandparent and grandchild.  They are so important in children's lives.  I have beloved memories of all 4 grandparents, I miss them every day.

Anyway...back to "The Great (lame) Doughnut Story." 

So, since Presley is finally eating real food, and a bit older, I decided that she was finally old enough to participate in this family tradition.  (My family likes to eat....whatever)

She loved her doughnut...she got a plain cake doughnut, no frosting or icing (my Nazi parenting ways never truly relax) and ate every bite.

I'm pretty sure Hunter devoured 3 doughnuts before one of us caught on to him.  Little stinker!

Sometimes in life it's the little things that seem so inconsequential, that stay with you and matter the most. Seriously, who would think that being taken to get a doughnut would stick with me for 30 years?

Making (not so) beautiful music together

Madison has decided that since she is soooo good on the piano, it is time to help Presley learn.  Uh. Yeah, um-hmm, let's just say I told her that she still has to go to lessons to have a teacher help her "get better," even though she is soooo good on it now.

But I do have to say, it is so cute watching her teach the younger kids things.  She is so sweet and patient with them, she is going to be a great mom some day....way better than me. 

***Okay, so funny story...as I was typing out this post I spelled learn "lurn."  I don't know why, I'm a fantastic speller as a general rule.  I started laughing at myself, because at least I recognized how stupid that was, and Ryan looked at me weird so I had to tell him what I did.  His response?  "Glad to see that  BYU degree paying off, if BYU calls, don't answer because they might want it back."  I wouldn't blame the;, so if I don't answer your call, now you know why.

SuuuuperMaaaaan!!! & his trusty sidekick, "Hunterbear"

Hunter got to go to Build-a-Bear with his preschool class for a field trip a few months ago, he named his new bear "Hunterbear."  Which, if you've spent more than 2 minutes around Hunter and I you'll know that I call him "Hunterbear" on a really regular basis.  He's going to hate me when he is a teenager.  So I found it cute that he named his bear after himself.  Some might call it cute, others, narcissistic;  Tomato, tahmahtoe.

Anyway, his Gigi found a box of BAB outfits at a yard sale and wisely snagged it for my kids.  In the box was a Superman outfit for the bear.  A few weeks ago Hunter decided he wanted to dress up like his bear, and came downstairs like this.  I thought it was so stinkin' cute!

Madison had to get in on the action, so she somehow found her old Supergirl jammie shirt that is WAY too small for her, and came for a quick picture.

Madison's Quilt

So I finally got my act together and took a class to learn all about the art of making t-shirt quilts.  For years I have wanted to make a quilt out of all of Madison's old baby clothes, the special ones at least.  So this summer I hired the cutest little girls to come watch my kids while I was gone for 5 hours a day for one week.  The kids had the best time with the girls, and I got to learn how to put the quilt together so I could FINALLY get rid of the clothes I've been hanging on to for years.

After roughly 70 hours of work (aka ignoring my kids), here is the result

I'm so excited to make one for each of my younger kids, I have plans to make one for them once they turn 5.

I loaned all Hunter's younger clothes to in-laws for their little guys, so next time I'm in Utah I'll have to dig through and make sure to grab all the things that are special to me so nothing gets lost.  Especially now that I know for sure what I'm doing...there were some things of Madison's that just wouldn't work in a quilt, and other things that I didn't think would work but did. 

I started a bucket for Presley's stuff and it's getting pretty full already...I'm a bit worried her quilt will end up being really, really large.  Madison's ended up a queen and I kept a lot more of Presley's stuff (well, that and she has a LOT more stuff than Madison did.)

Meet Seniorita Grumpy Pants

She's been a grump all day. Every time I put her down she throws a tantrum. Every time I tell her "NO" she throws a tantrum. Every time I try and give her a toy, she throws it on the ground and then throws a tantrum.

Parenthood is fun!

Thank goodness it's finally bedtime.

Mom, help me

Hunter: Mom, help me put my underwear on. You hold my underwear and I put my legs through. That's how you help me.

Me: Bossy little thing.....

hmm, wonder where he gets that from?????

Madison, what are you doing?

Me: Madison, what are you doing?

Madison: Trying to carry Presley like a baby.

Me: Um, I think she might be a little big for that now....but hold on, let me take a picture and then PUT. HER. DOWN.  Thanks.

I'm all grown up now, mom. Geez.

So today I sat down to feed Presley breakfast and she wouldn't eat it. That's not a normal issue with her, she's my child-she's an eater.

Afte attempting to feed her about 5 times I gave up trying and let her have the spoon. Apparently that was what she wanted. 

All I can think of is the mess she'll be making.