Santa Claus is Coming to Town

I love Christmas time and all the lights, treats, music, presents, and excitement that comes along with it. Kids only make it better. Every morning when little Dex wakes up he walks over to our Christmas tree and points to it and grunts, which means, "Mom, turn on the lights!" Then he exclaims, "pity," which means "pretty," the same thing he squeals and exclaims when he sees Christmas lights while driving around at night.

Savy has enjoyed having her own Christmas tree in her room and loves to help me wrap presents by applying the crooked tape and the huge, unmatching bows. She's asked Santa for a handful of things (ipod phone, house, and barbies), but hasn't really focused on any one present, so it will be exciting to see what Santa chooses to bring her for Christmas. At one point she even asked Santa for a sweater! And Santa looked at her and said..."A sweater? What about toys?" Savy decided toys would be good, too, so Santa said he'd choose a special toy for her.

I love the magical feel of Christmas and have enjoyed watching all the corny Christmas cartoon classics with my chitlins while snuggling up on our warm couch next to our Christmas tree. Only four more days until the magic explodes! Merry Christmas!!

Halloween

Halloween has come and gone. And November is almost halfway over! We have been blessed with a fabulous fall, and I am not looking forward to the cold weather. I do enjoy the snow, just not driving in it and certainly not being freezing cold out in it. But here's some pics from our Halloween weekend. I got to dress up five different times, and I never realized how awful I look with all that green makeup on! So forgive me for looking so sickly, I was just going all out on my witch costume. We got to party at preschool, at Sambo's work, and at my family's house. And Brynn was by far the best hostess out there. If you ever want/need someone to decorate your house for Halloween, she is the girl to do it. It looked spooky, creepy, wicked, and fun.

Here's the sexy little fam...all grumpy after a two hour drive! And if you don't know who Sam is, you should! (hide your kids, hide your wife)

My cute chitlins with their creepy mom.

Getting ready for trick-or-treating. We only filled those buckets 1/4 full, and we still have way too much Halloween candy at our house!!

Enjoying the goods.

I can't get enough of these two kids. They are so stinking cute! And Ginger was the cutest waddling around in her little peacock outfit.

Happy Halloween!!

Decorating Pumpkins

Decorating pumpkins is a must at Halloween. Since I don't trust my kids with a carving knife, they got to decorate their pumpkins with a paint brush instead!! (and that was even a bit risky) Dexter was all too thrilled to get to use a paintbrush like his big sister, and was quite the pro. He'd dab his brush in the paint so carefully and then spread it all over his pumpkin.

Savy used a smorgasbord of colors. Every color of the rainbow.

Sambo is disgusted by the inside of a pumpkin. He hates weird textures, and pumpkin guts are one of the weirdest textures out there. I dug his pumpkin out first, and then convinced him to stick his own hand in there. Doesn't he look thrilled?

And of course....messy hands. A freshly painted pumpkin is too much temptation for little fingers.

And since the rain/snow washed away all the paint on their pumpkins when we placed them on our porch, we ended up sticking Mr. Potato Head pieces in them. Super cute!!

I love this one...her tongue sticks out in concentration just like her daddy.

And my sexy hubby. He was Dexter's coach, making sure that paintbrush didn't travel much further than the pumpkin.

I love Halloween!! Pumpkins, cookies, parties, and costumes. Love it, love it, love it!!

The Most Happiest Place On Earth

We did it. We braved the crowds, the ten-hour car ride with two small children, the horrifically over-priced food, and we conquered Disneyland over a five-day spread. You might think 5 days is a little much to spend at one place, but for me, it was absolutely perfect. We took the kids home in the afternoon for a much needed nap (although most of the time Sam napped while I tried to convince the two kids they were the ones who needed a nap), we hit the things we loved more than once, and we relaxed and enjoyed the magic of Disneyland!! I certainly wore my kids out, and I probably wore my husband out trying to take advantage of every moment, but it was a perfect vacation for me.

There's a gazillion pictures to document our time, and yet these few don't do it justice. Watching Dexter shake his booty to the music playing during the parade, seeing Savy hide under her blanket while riding Pirates, and then asking to go on it again and again, eating a candy apple....the BEST candy apple...while watching the most incredible fireworks show, and making memories with the Stroman family.

So excited to finally be inside the gates. And no, tears of joy were not shed upon entering. Happy tears came later.

Here is where the magic of Disneyland got to me. Watching my daughter's face as she interacted with her idols. And then later while watching the fireworks show. Really, how can anything compare?

And Princess Tiana was hands-down the most wonderful princess there! Savy wanted to tell her story after story after story, and Princess Tiana just smiled and talked to Savana like she was the only girl that mattered to her!!

Savy had to get new princess gear: a dress, a purse, and gloves.

Um....this is the only face they're able to pull when told to be funny. Love it.

We did manage to take an hour or so away from Disneyland and attend Medieval Times. I highly recommend it to all who do not have young kids. (Kids are just a bit too much to handle...even if they're as sweet as ours!!)

Savy did get crowned the Queen of Love and Beauty. She takes after her mother.

We also slipped away to the beach, were my husband huddled under a towel and complained it was too cold to be at a beach!! It was a bit chilly, we had to visit the beach. At least once. And check out Dexter's face. He got rolled over by the ocean. Was next to Sam one minute, and the next minute he was tumbling up the beach being pushed around by the waves. Poor kid.

Cali-Forn-I-A!!!

Just about the cutest girls ever. Waiting to see the princesses.

Mickey Mouse!! Savy was hesitant at first when approaching large Disney characters, Dexter never got the hang of it, but by the end of our stay, Savy threw herself into any characters arms she could find.

Savy and her playmates for life.

See how big a fan Dex is of Minnie? He actually just fell right before the picture. It's tough learning how to walk in Disneyland.

This is how he really felt the whole time. He's going to hate me in his later years for this picture!!

Pluto. Poor Pluto. Nobody's favorite character. But he is a Disney character, and we couldn't pass up our chance to take a picture with him.

And this picture sums it all up. Dex a bit unsure of everything we were doing, Savy and I loving every second of it, and Sam left to document it all. Thank you, Stromans, for a fantastic Disneyland vacation!!!

Sand Babies

We visited California a few weeks ago with Sambo's family. It was so much fun! We spent five days at Disneyland and California Adventure, one afternoon at the beach, and wore ourselves out watching our kids have a fantastic time! Here's just a few snapshots from the beach. More will come later. But these two pics make me giggle. Such stinkin cute kids...even when they are all covered with sand!!!

Preschool

It was Savy's first day of preschool (and mine, too)!! And we both survived!! Huzzah!!

Dance at LaShar's

Dance...one of the wonderful things I get to watch my little girl do! She was old enough to take dance this year, and she absolutely loved it! Her dance studio had a little dance recital at the end of the summer, and I snapped a few pictures of her performing. However, I am becoming more and more scatterbrained (probably because I have more and more responsibility piled on me), and had just placed her dance outfit in the washer 10 minutes before we had to go! So I quickly scrambled around the house and threw together her fabulous ensemble...complete with hot pink bummies and her cute pink tutu from when she was one! It's okay...she looks darling in anything she wears!!

Savy loved performing...and especially loved watching herself in the mirror!

She even loved performing so much, she joined in the older girls performance! When it came time for the 4 and 5 year olds to do their dances, Savy simply grabbed the props right along with them and attempted to copycat what her teacher and the other girls were doing. It was pretty hilarious!

Ahhhh...such a sweet little ballerina!

She even has little tap shoes!!

Savy loves to move and groove to the music. But her little brother is soon going to show her up...because no one can move and groove quite like little Dexter!! He was shaking his booty right along with the little girls!

Summer Fun

Is August really ending? Is summer almost over? Crazy. Absolutely crazy. Here are a few of our summer moments captured (via iphone...takes pretty good pics). Hooray for swings, snow cones, swimming pools, McDonald's, and simply hanging out on the sweet green grass!

I am awed at how fast time flies. My baby boy turned 1 today. Wow. Has it really been a year since the weekend at the cabin when I woke up with contractions? I was scared to bring him into the world. One child was a huge adjustment, but I wasn't quite ready to have two children. This year has been hard. It's been challenging. But with this little guy around who is ready and willing to melt my heart with his irresistible smiles at any given moment, it's certainly been worth it. The first year is full of changes. I don't think Dexter has stayed the same from one day to the next. Always learning/doing something new. The minute he figured out how to crawl, his learning spiked and he took off: climbing stairs, standing, making bigger messes, babbling like crazy, waving bye-bye, and he has this weird fascination with anything above him. He likes to point to lights and babble on and on and on about who knows what. (Sam thinks he's going to be an electrician). It's weird to think he's really 1. He's really not my baby anymore. The poor little guy had an awful night puking, and so he spent the day snuggled up to his mommy (which I thoroughly loved)! We did manage to make it out of the house for a little B-day party with his cousin Ginger. It was totally low key. And I loved it. We celebrated with my family last weekend, and with Sammy's family this weekend. It was great. It was perfect. And even if Dexter's tummy wasn't feeling great...he still managed to eat one bite of ice cream and open up some fabulous presents. Happy B-day, Dexter!!

Hi. I'm Dexter. I know my face is a little bit dirty, but I'm a boy. I don't have time to stop and let my mom clean my face. I'm almost 1, and I finally have a tooth poking through. Yes, my teeth have been a little bit slow coming, and it has been a bit troublesome to mash up all my yummy food without any teeth, but I am about ready to have a non-toothless grin. I've been a bit more cranky than usual...but come on! It's painful cutting teeth. My gums get all swollen and red and simply hurt!! But it hasn't slowed me down. I still manage to crawl faster than my mom can walk after me, and I'm really good about dumping EVERYTHING on to the floor. I've decided I'm too big for toys, they're only good for dumping out of their containers, and then I must move on to find the next thing I can make a mess out of. Oh...and I love to eat rocks, dirt, wood chips, and grass. Did I mention I was a boy? Yeah...my mom keeps trying to tell me they're gross and kaka...but they're actually quite tasty!! I've tried to share some with her, but she doesn't appreciate having rocks shoved in her face. Oh, well. It's her loss. Well, I'm off to take a rest...it's pretty exhausting being this cute...but I thought I'd let the world get a glimpse of me. Adios.

RAGNARdly, dude!!

Sam and I got roped into joining the Campsaver.com family and friends Ragnar Relay team. Sam has not run...ever...in his life and I haven't run since...before Savy was born. It was a good motivator to get running, get active, get healthy...and the reward was fantabulous!! 2 days of running, through some of the prettiest landscapes in Utah, surrounded by fantastic weather, with the most supportive, funny, good-natured people around. I started us off in Logan, and 188 miles later, I crossed the finish line in Park City with the rest of our crew. (I only ran 21 of those 188 miles!!). Aside from the lack of sleep, the aching bodies, and the stench that comes from running hard with no showers...it was a great experience. And even with those things, I'm ready to do it again.

Don't I look great? I just started running...hence the smile on my face! The grimaces came later (and when there wasn't a camera around to document them).

Sambo was so excited to get started on his part of the race, he forgot to pin on his bib. But Zak let him borrow his.

Sammy...pulled a funny face or a funny move anytime I pulled out the camera to document. Doesn't he look like he's working hard?

I'm done...

...and so is Sam. Now the only thing we had left to do...was pig out on Dairy Keen!!! (And drag our achy bodies across the finish line). It was a great way to spend 30 hours!!