First Day of School! - NOT!

I finally got Sarah's first day of school pictures. She was supposed to start August 31. But she didn't get to go to her first day of Kindergarten!! :'( The poor girl was sick all week! She finally was well enough and felt up to going on Thursday morning. She had a lot of fun, and likes her class. She especially likes that her close friends are in class with her. Doesn't she just look so cute?


Mom has been in town the last week helping me through this chemo stuff and helping me get organized so I can continue the treatment. She's been an amazing help with the kids, the house, the yard... well, just about everything! Thanks mom! Here are a couple of pictures of what she's been doing to beautify the front of our home. Sarah enjoyed "helping" her plant some new flowers around our walkway. I don't know if she was quite as much actual help as she thought, but it was cute anyway.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day all day today. Joe (I think) caught this picture of a rainbow swooping across the mountains behind our front yard neighbors. It's so peaceful... a very nice way to sum up my day.

Need A Nap?

Apparently I did! Jeff snapped this shot of Audrey and me the other day. I was already lying on the couch, and Audrey I guess just missed me while I was gone in the hospital. She came up and cuddled with me for quite some time before she fell asleep. And when she fell asleep, what else could I do? So I took a nap! I actually don't like the picture much. I've never been a fan of how I look sleeping. People say that they look at their spouse or their children while they're sleeping and they just look 'angelic.' Well I understand that when looking at my kids. But I don't think I've ever seen a picture of myself sleeping that I would consider angelic... Oh well.

Oh, and apparently, Sarah needed a nap that day too. Only this is where we found her instead. She's on top of the back of the couch in the living room.

With all that's been going on, I've been a little lacking in the blogging world lately. I almost didn't post the boys' first day of preschool! They went to Ms. Helen's 3 year old class for the first time on Thursday this week. They were so excited to bring their backpacks and wear the little nametags Ms. Helen made for them. For whatever reason, when we take pictures of the boys, they don't actually smile. We say "Say cheese!" and they actually say "cheese." This is how their faces turn out. But despite the funny expressions, don't they just look sharp?

I started the photo taking with Alex, but soon Sarah and Audrey sort of casually inched their way closer and closer into the picture. I guess they didn't want to be left out.

Show me your backpacks, boys!Fun times.

Secret Project! - Afters

Yep. I'm finally posting them! I'm taking a serious risk here that Jeff will NOT check the blog between now and when he boards his plane to come home in a few hours. Let me just preface this post by saying that this has been the least fulfilling "secret" project I've ever done! I was hoping to do it while Jeff was gone out of town this week, and he would come home not knowing anything about it. But he looked at the blog while he was gone (which was a possibility I was fully aware of when I posted. I just really didn't think he would!), then he called on Wednesday night and talked to the kids. He thinks I painted the girls' rooms since I've been painting stuff lately. So he asked Sarah what color her room was, and she started telling him all about what I've been doing! I stopped her before she said too much, but I don't know how much he heard, or understood. So I don't know how surprised he'll be when he gets home, but at least he has no idea what the colors are...

I did not paint the girls' room, by the way. I did, however move Audrey in with Sarah, and painted Audrey's old room. It's no longer a bedroom. It's a much more useful and much cooler room now.

Here's a hint.



I finally found a good place to put these framed prints! I really love where they are now. And I love this room!

Now this picture's not that great, but you get the idea.

Here's my new comfy bench. I made the big long cushion, and all the pillows.

Here's one more before picture I forgot to post.

And the after: The last thing left for this part is some magazine holders for all the Scientific American magazines, Ensigns and Friends. I wasn't willing to spend $10 per holder at Walmart, so I'm waiting until I find something more perfect and less expensive. I wouldn't mind putting a small shelf in there on the left and putting the board games on it. But I have to find one that fits first.

And here is Sarah's room (now Sarah's and Audrey's room) after. I didn't really do anything to it other than get rid of the bookshelf, and move Audrey's stuff in. I'll make it all pretty and cool later. The main change with this project was the new library. The girls really like sharing a room so far. We'll see how long it lasts before Audrey starts getting on Sarah's nerves. So far so good!



The kids love the new library. They go in, grab a book, sit at a table and read! I'd say it was a good idea. Wanna know the best part about this project? It was free! Well, almost anyway. Almost every single thing I used to change up this room came from our house. It's all stuff I already had, including the paint! And the paint only cost me $5 when I bought it ("oops" paint from Lowe's). I already had all the fabric and embellishments for the pillows. I had the boxes for the closet. They were plastic milk crates that I covered with fabric to match the bench cushion. I had the kiddie tables and chairs already. I just moved them from the basement, where they've been enduring constant abuse and misuse since we moved in. The bookshelf was in the garage with some empty boxes on it. We got it for free from one of our neighbor's family members. The paintings were hanging in the hallway, and I never liked that placement for them to begin with. Now I love where they are. The framed Proclamation to the Family was hanging in our family room downstairs, but didn't match with the other colors. Now it goes perfectly. The only thing I bought new, specifically for this project, was the plaque that says "Library, Shhh..." And that, I bought at Walmart for slightly less than $4. Then I stained it the same color I stained the tables, painted the lettering, and attached the ribbon. I even already had the hook that I put on the door. Now, the only thing left is the magazine holders. What do you think?

Cuteness and Cake

Sarah and Audrey are becoming the best of friends lately. Sure, Audrey bugs Sarah sometimes when she takes her horses and runs away giggling, or when she tries to wear Sarah's favorite shoes (It's starting early, I know), but they really do enjoy playing and laughing together. Audrey tries to be just like her big brothers and sister. She follows them around copying everything they do all the time. She also copycats everything they say. They sure love each other!


Here the kids are enjoying an afternoon of painting. Audrey just had to see what that yummy looking green paint tasted like.

And cake! This is the birthday cake I made myself for my birthday girls' movie night last night. It was fun. We talked, ate, played, laughed, and watched the movie Sneakers with Robert Redford. It was fun to hang out with some good friends and relax a while.




The grub. Mmmmm....

Happy Birthday, Sarah!

While she was here on Sunday, Grandma Kohler mentioned that it was going to be hard to top this birthday for Sarah. I think she's right! Sarah had an entire two-day long celebration for her fifth birthday this year. On Saturday, she had her friends come over for a water party. They all had a blast playing in the sprinklers, chasing each other around with squirt guns, fishing out little toy goldfish from the kiddie pool, and blasting each other with water balloons. All that, combined with cake, capri suns, treat bags and a pinata filled with candy... how could they not have fun? Sarah really enjoyed herself. Her favorite gift of the day was Sleeping Beauty's horse. It walks, bows, twirls its tail and makes trotting sounds. It was the only gift that we knew she wanted ahead of time. Her best friend, Katie picked it out for her.

Okay. These two pictures pretty much sum up her Saturday water party:She had so much fun that day, and she couldn't quit smiling for very long. My friend Nicole took these. I'm so glad she was there to capture some really great shots. I was so busy taking care of party things that I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked. Thanks Nicole!

Here they all are blasting each other with water balloons. As you can see, Jeff got in on the fun with this activity.

And we can't forget the squirt gun fight.

Preparing the pinata.

This is what happens when, after the pinata was broken, I say, "Audrey! Candy!" She came running.

I think she's developed a bit of a sweet tooth... Here she is waiting for her second piece of cake:

Speaking of cake, I couldn't leave out the coolest part of the party. Or should I say "hottest?" Sarah really liked this one. She got to keep the sunglasses for wearing later.


And here's the reason I was up so late so many nights this last week. Didn't they turn out cute? We only broke one of them, so I have three left for either decorating or using later. Although the one we hit with the bat didn't last long. It dented right away, but apparently we needed something a little stronger than yarn to hold it up. The "string" broke and the kids ended up having to beat the beach ball senseless right on the grass! Future reference noted. They still thought it was fun, though. And when Jeff took the broken pinata and made it rain candy from the sky, they all scrambled screaming to pick it all up. Whatever works, right?


Okay, on to the second day of partying:

Grandma and Grandpa Kohler (Grandma Dee Dee and Grandpa Smoky) came over for Sunday dinner and a second round of presents and cake. Now this was fun. After dinner, we had Sarah open up a couple more presents we had for her. A book, puzzle, and Sleeping Beauty's dress with two of her fairy godmothers. Only the dress, you say? Where is Sleeping Beauty, you say? And where is the other fairy godmother, you say? Well, let me show you:


Now didn't that turn out nicely? Sarah was ecstatic to see this one. She knew exactly who it was. Then she saw that it lights up to change the dress color. Heaven. The doll goes with her favorite present of Saturday: Sleeping Beauty's Horse. The doll can actually ride it. Yep. Heaven.

But that wasn't all. As she was eating her cake, a little trail of baby horses mysteriously appeared in the hallway and up the stairs to Sarah's room. When Sarah saw them, I said, "Sarah, they must know something. Maybe you should follow them." So she did. All the way up to her room, where she found this:


Now she has a new favorite birthday present. She wouldn't even come out of her room to watch the movie Grandma Dee Dee had brought with her (Disney's Bedtime Stories) She caught the last fifteen minutes or so when she was tired of playing alone. She played with her new barn for hours that night, and spent a good portion of her time in her room playing with it today. She also spent a good portion of her time giving hugs and kisses, and saying "I love you, Mama." Sometimes varied to say, "I love you too much, Mama." She really likes her new birthday presents. She's definitely a cutie! Happy Birthday, Sarah!!

Can't She Just Be All Girl??

I have been blessed with two beautiful little girls. It's been a lot of fun making cute outfits, trying out new hair bows and clips, painting in pinks and purples, and coming up with whatever other girly things I can think of to make my little girls girly cute. However, apparently it's been more fun for me than for Sarah. For the longest time, her favorite colors were red, blue and green. Her favorite movie was Jurassic Park. Her favorite toys were horses and dinosaurs. Her birthday party last year was "horsey" themed, which translated into cowboy hats, bandanas, and a brown chocolate horse cake. I was so excited this year because recently Sarah has turned into quite the girly girl. She is now interested in dress-up, princesses, her favorite color is pink... I was thinking for sure I'd get to do a pretty, flower- or princess-themed birthday cake for her. Did you notice I said "was" excited? When I asked her today what kind of cake she wanted, she said "A Zelda cake, mom!" Zelda? Really?? She wants the wolf and Midna from the Twilight Princess game. I mean, that has to be the farthest thing from girly and princess that I can imagine. I even tried to convince her to let me make her a Princess Zelda cake. Nope. Wolf and Midna. That's it. Oh well... At least Audrey's too young to care still...Come on... You can't tell me that she's not all girl!!

Happy Memorial Day 2009!

Jeff had the day off from work, and we decided to make it a fun ending to a three day weekend. After much deliberation throughout the weekend, Jeff and I decided to take the kids on a "hike" in the morning after breakfast. We went to a trail in Ogden that wound around a very large pond, and also touched up next to a river. The kids really loved exploring through the tall grasses and flowers. The trail was just over a mile long, and seemed to be just the right length for our little family. We were almost back around to the car when the kids started getting tired. They thoroughly enjoyed their hike yesterday.




Here I am in my red, white and blue tribute to the veterans.


This is one of my favorite pictures. If you could see her from the front, you'd notice her left hand is in her pocket. She was mimicking her older siblings who all found it very relaxing to walk around with their hands in their pockets.





This is what happens when we say "Alex and Lucas, come sit on this bench!"


As you can see, there was no sitting involved. Audrey was wondering where everyone went all of a sudden.

Along the way, the kids saw lots of things to stop and examine. This one was a great big snail.

They saw lots of different colored flowers along the way as well. Each of the kids picked one for me.



Even Jeff picked his favorite to add to my beautiful bouquet.


I graciously added his contribution to the others for this picture.


But here is it's ultimate resting place... I mean... you can't really blame me. It wasn't the prettiest, and it was prickly!

Here's the final bouquet. I would have put them in a little vase of water when we got home, but Lucas ended up stepping on them in the car and they didn't make it home in one piece. Oh well. At least I have these pictures to document the fact that my family loves me.

These are some of my favorite kinds of pictures. Jeff is such a good dad, and really loves the kids. Sarah had so much fun riding on Papa's shoulders. And Alex was just delighted to help push his little sister in the stroller. He loves to help, and he loves his sister.



Lucas couldn't be left out, though. Jeff was nice enough to indulge his request to be picked up. The car was only about 50 feet to the right behind Jeff in this picture. He carried them both the rest of the way there.

Happy Memorial Day!