Checkers

Phil taught Gracie and Parker how to play checkers tonight. Gracie picked it right up! Parker tried hard to get it and with a little more practice I'm sure he'll do great! Parker has a lot of determination!

Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree!

Phil felt ambitious this year and wanted to get the tree put up this last weekend because he's on call this week, which means this weekend he's going to be gone a lot. It's so funny, or maybe it's sad :) because we have had the same tree and ornaments for the past 8 years now. The tree is even a hand-me-down from my parents which means it's had a good 10 or 15 years before that. It is always so much fun putting the tree up with the kids and seeing how much they love it. I am excited for the Christmas season and the chance I have to spend it with my cute little family.

BFF's

Gracie and Parker are honestly best friends. It amazes me how much they love each other and how well they play together. I couldn't ask for anything better.

I went to Gracie's school a few weeks ago and read a story to her class. She was the "Frog Star" for the week and so her teacher spotlighted her. While Parker, Chase and I were there reading the story, her teacher gave the kids in her class a few minutes to ask Gracie anything they wanted to so they could get to know her better. One of the kids asked her what her favorite thing to do at home was and Gracie told him her favorite thing to do at home is play with her brother Parker. I was speechless!

Parker is into teasing Gracie that he is going to kiss her. They are so funny when he tries to do this. Gracie tries to escape him and he chases her down until he gets her. It's so cute to watch! I was able to catch a picture of him doing just that.



I'm sure there will be a time down the road when they probably won't be the best of friends, but I'm so glad I have all the good times documented so they'll never be able to deny it!

I love these two little kiddos so stinkin' much! They bring so much joy into our home. I can't imagine my life without them. They complete me! Haha..but seriously! :) They have the best imaginations and the most loving hearts. I love each of their personalities and talents. I learn so much from them and love spending time with them every day. Even though I naturally tune them out sometimes (oops, don't tell them!), I love hearing what they have to say. They make me laugh so hard sometimes. And those smiles, completely contagious! I love you Gra Gra and Parky!

Good Times With Grandma Holgate!

My mom flew into town and stayed with us for 2 weeks. We had such a great time with her! She did so much for us that we will be forever grateful for. Chase had her wrapped around his little finger. He knew just how to get held all of the time! :) I was able to get a lot done while she was here. She watched the kids so Phil and I could go on a date, and so I could go Christmas shopping, and go to the dentist 4 times. Yes, you saw it right, FOUR times! My first appointment was for a toothache, of which I was referred to an endodontist for a good old root canal. Got the root canal. Went back to the dentist for a cleaning. Broke my crown (which was on the tooth that just had the root canal). Went back to the dentist for the broken crown. Lucky us, we got to see first hand just how crappy dental insurance is. :( Merry Christmas! :)

NEW MOON
Also while she was here, a couple of friends invited us to go with them to see the Twilight saga New Moon at the opening midnight showing. I have never read the books and quite frankly wasn't that crazy about the first movie. But I thought a girls night out sounded great! My friend Rachael was so excited because she got tickets for a "first time" early showing at 9:00pm and for only $5.00 a piece. We went out for hot chocolate before the movie and arrived at the theaters by 8:30pm. As we were standing in line we realized that our tickets were for the movie Twilight and not for the new movie New Moon. OOPS! Haha! Luckily my die-hard-Twilight-fan friends were able to switch our tickets and get us into the 12:30AM showing. So we stood outside in the freezing cold in this enormous line for nearly and hour and a half with the hundreds of crazy teenage die-hards. All in all our nearly 7 hours at the theater was a lot of fun and one heck of a great memory! But darn that movie popcorn for breaking my crown!

Angel Eyes

Every time I hold Chase, this is what I get to see. He stares straight into my eyes and melts my heart.

Rollin' Over!

NO! He can't! He has to stay a newborn! Our sweet little Chase rolled over today for the first time and Grandma Holgate and I were the witnesses. It was only just a couple of days ago that he started holding his head up really good while lying on his stomach and now he's rolling over. About a week or so ago Chase started waving one arm around spastically, looking like he was leading the music. It was so cute! Now he is constantly (okay maybe not constantly, but you get the point) flinging all four limbs around spastically. So funny! He is quickly becoming un-cuddly. :( He wants to hold his head up and look around at everything rather than lay his head on our shoulder. He continues to smile the biggest smile I've ever seen. He'll stretch his mouth as wide as it can go while his bright blue eyes literally twinkle. He knows exactly how to put a huge smile on anyone's face and completely melt their heart. He has been sleeping so good at night. We have had more nights lately with no wakings than nights with wakings!!!! HOORAY! Thank you Chase! That's something his big brother and sister never did until they were nearly a year old. I am continually amazed at how much joy this sweet boy brings into our home. I find myself trying to soak in every moment I can with him and not wishing a second to pass.

Steady, steady...


getting mad...going, going...


he's over...what just happened?!

Let's play dress up.

At Chase's expense Gracie had a great time dressing her little brother up!

Funny Stuff!

A quick overview for understanding the following stories:
I don't know why, but for some reason I HATE (and always have) the 4 letter 'F' word for flatulence . Maybe because it sounds crude to me and maybe because I grew up being respectful by not making any bodily functions in front of anyone, including family (TMI haha!). So I have taught my kids not to say that word either. Okay...

10-7-09
When I picked Parker up from preschool he said that one of the boys in his class said a bad word. He told me that he wanted to tell me, but he was afraid to. He was acting really nervous like this kid had said something so awful. I told him that's okay that he didn't have to tell me. But he said, "But I want to tell you, but I'm scared." So I told him it's okay he could tell me if he really wanted to and he wouldn't get in trouble. Parker squirmed, hesitated for a minute or so, then covered his mouth and whispered, "Nolan said fart."

10-28-09
Gracie came home from school and told me that a boy in her class whispered in her ear the "F" word. (Here is where my jaw dropped to the floor.)
Me: "THE 'F' WORD!?!"
Gracie: "Yeah, the 'F' word (pause, pause, pause) you know, for gas."
Me: "OOOOOHHHHH!" (Trying oh so hard to not bust out laughing.)
Gracie: "So I told my teacher."
Me: "So what did you tell her?"
Gracie: "I told her that Matthew said the 'F' word."

Oh my heck these kids make me laugh!

Two little love birds back in the day...

...ELEVEN years back in the day!

Today I felt like going through our scrapbook from when Phil and I dated. The good ol' days at Dixie College (as it was called when we were there, but now Dixie State) were some of our very favorite memories. We met in Cell Biology 105, fall quarter (not semester as it's referred to now) of 1997. I loved the days of Phil's highlights in is hair and I will never forget how I loved being so tan and skinny(unfortunately I didn't feel skinny then, but now looking back...)...those days are long gone and never coming back! :)

Happy Halloween!

The kids had so much fun this year! Gracie was a vampire, Parker was Iron Man and Chase was a giraffe. Earlier in the day Phil and the kids gutted and carved their pumpkins. Gracie wanted a cat and Parker wanted a ghost. Good thing Phil is artistic! That evening, I got the kids all ready in costumes and makeup and then we Skyped their grandma's and grandpa's. I would like a traditional Halloween meal each year, but the kids are too picky and wouldn't eat it, so I made hot dog mummies thinking surely they'll like that. Uh, of course not! Gracie opted for a peanut butter sandwich instead. Yum yum! Phil took Gracie and Parker around our neighborhood and Chase and I held down the fort and passed out the candy. I was thinking that Chase and I were going to have a nice warm relaxing evening in...boy was I wrong...I got the warm part right though. :) Tons of kids came to our house this year. Just as I'd climb the stairs and sit down, the doorbell would ring again. Duh, it's Halloween! I don't know what I was thinking. :) In between trick or treaters I managed to bathe Chase, but then he wanted to eat. I couldn't feed him because then I couldn't pass out the candy and I had to get rid of the candy because I didn't want any leftover. Stress! Poor little Chase. :) But we managed! I love it when the kids come home with their candy and they dump it out on the ground and Phil and I rummage through it to see what they got. It reminds me so much of when I was a little girl. Phil took his "Dad tax" (that's what he calls it). I must pat myself on the back though because I didn't eat ANY of their candy! :)