Wednesday Mornings

On Wednesdays we watch the garbage truck.  It is the highlight of our day!

Who they are...

MIRANDA

Miranda is that girl who likes to watch football on TV with dad.  She is the girl who hides when she is doing something she knows she shoudn't do.  She is the girl who likes to wear hats, sometimes two at a time.

She is the girl with the crazy, curly, unruly, beautiful hair.. and sometimes she even asks for a bow to get it out of her eyes!  She is the girl who learned how to go down a slide all by herself and would stay at the park all day sliding!

She is the girl who climbs up and sits in my sink to bruch her teeth ALL DAY LONG!  If she is really quiet or has been missing for a while that is where I find her.   (Nik is so proud!)

Miranda is the girl who is usually wearing boy clothes (unless we are going somewhere) because I just don't have enough girl clothes that fit her! =)  She actually prefers Ian's clothes over hers.. especially the clothes that have footballs or race cars or lions on them!  She is that girl who carries around stuffed animals everywhere she goes.  (Notice the monkey hitching a ride on her back!)

She is the girl who melts my heart every day!!  I put her hair in pigtails for the first time the other day and I just couldn't get enough!!  She looked so cute I could hardly stand it!  She is the girl that is always willing to hug Ian (even when he pushes her away).  She is the girl who is so good at sharing (most of the time) and doesn't like it when Ian (or any other baby for that matter) is sad.  At church when she hears a baby crying she will say "baby, sa, blae blae."  Which translates to baby, sad, needs a blankie.  If Ian is in timeout and crying it makes her sad too and she wants to go be with him to help him be happy.

Miranda is also that girl who can scream the loudest and cry the hardest at the drop of a hat.  She is so girly and emotional and dramatic!!  She is the girl who likes to unload all the movies from under the TV and then put them back.  She is the girl who is so good at playing and entertaining herself if she is in the right mood!  She is also the girl who will hang on my legs and cry until I pick her up and get her what she wants.

Miranda is the girl who usually has daddy's socks on.  She is the girl who loves to wear necklaces and backpacks.  She is the girl that gets really sad if she doesn't get to say goodbye to dad in the mornings.  She loves her dad and loves picking him up from school!

She is the girl who has more attitude than my 17-year-old sister and a bigger heart than most people I know.  She is so loving and caring and sweet and I just can't get enough lately!!  I love her so much and love this stage that we are in!  I can understand a lot of what she says (most people probably wouldn't be able to understand a word) and she is learning more every day!

IAN 

Ian is that kid who likes deviled eggs, but hates getting his picture taken.  He is the kid that likes to play with cars and trucks and anything really!!  He just likes to play.  He is the kid who will choose the orange bowl and then after I get his cereal and pour the milk and hand it to him will decide he wants a different bowl and when I tell him "you chose orange so that is what you get, I'm not going to switch the bowls" will just start crying and say "you scared me." (He says that alot for different reasons, but that was just a good example.) 

Ian is the kid who likes to do projects (coloring, paints, playdough, cut paper, stickers) and would do them all day if he could!  He is the kid who wants to play with whatever Miranda is playing with.  He doesn't like sharing with Miranda, but expects Miranda to always share with him (and she does.)  He is that kid who, when he decides it's ok, is so nice to hug and kiss Miranda and help her get her blankie and play with her. He is the kid who likes to call Grandma on the phone, but will only say hi and then he is done talking and wants to do something else.

He is the kid who is very picky about the clothes he wears and won't wear any shorts that aren't basketball shorts and won't wear shirts that "hang down" or "make bumps" (whatever that means).  I even took him to the store and let him pick out some shirts so he would wear them... ya didn't work.  He chose some great shirts and now won't wear them.  Most of the time he just doesn't wear a shirt!!  We usually have to bribe him or get mad at him before he will get dressed in nice clothes for church!

He is the kid who likes to climb on everything and I tell him at least 10 times a day to please get off the cupboards!! =)  He is the kid who has to have a bowl of cereal in his bed at night and loves to cuddle with us in our bed in the mornings!!  He is the kid who loves to read books.  He is the one that will say what he is thinking... for example... this morning he tells Nik "I don't like you.  You always do wrong things I don't want you to do like clean and I just want you to do right things like play."  Nik tried to explain that we can't always do things we want to do and that if we don't clean our house it would get really messy and it wouldn't be fun to live in.  Ian replied "I just like it messy because I like to play, play, play a lot." 

Ian is the kid who is always giving me hugs and kisses and pushing daddo away, until he is about to give up and then he wants kisses and hugs from him too.  He is the kid who likes to play with friends and gets so excited when we are going to a friends house or they are coming over... I usually try to wait to tell him they are coming or else he wants them right then!!  He is the kid that would take one marshmallow NOW over a whole bag of marshmallows in 10 minutes!!!  He too is so sweet and loving and is always telling me he loves me or he likes me.  He is also the one who gives me the most compliments and disagreements with the clothes I wear and the way I look.  He is very opinionated about what I should wear and what he thinks looks good! =)

These kids are my life and I love them so much!  I love seeing their different personalities and the different stages we are in.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE when they play and laugh together!  At those moments our home is truly heaven on earth!  I pray every day that I can be a better mother and that I can teach them the things that will guide them through their lives and bring them happiness!!  It is scary to me how impressionable they are at this age and I have really tried to be careful of the things we watch on tv or the things they hear because they will repeat things I don't want them to know about!  They are such sweet little spirits right now and I can see how important it is that they have a good home where they can feel safe and learn the gospel and feel the spirit!  What a job we mothers have!!!  Wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!

What? 5 years?

5 years ago

Now

We decided to go out!! =)  To some people that is a normal occurance, but for us it is a rare occasion so it was a perfect way to celebrate our anniversary! We went to the Cheesecake Factory for the first time and I really liked it!  Nik not so much, but he did like the cheesecake!  He said next time we'll just get an appetizer and then cheesecake! I'm cool with that!

We got Chocolate Raspberry Truffle

And Banna something (SO GOOD!! I liked this better than the chocolate!)  It looked better when we got it, but between the car ride home and tipping over a couple of times it got a little roughed up!  Still tasted great though!

Thanks hun for a great five years!!  I love you and can't wait to see what the next five turn out like!!

Happy Moments

Well this is random, but the other day we came home and had this little guy on our wall!  I thought he was pretty cute, but we decided to put him back outside!!  It was quite the sight seeing Nik catch him!  He was a fast little bugger!  My gardeing gloves happened to be sitting on the table and Nik (without thinking) put them on to catch him.  I just had to laugh while Nik was getting him because he looked so funny with gardening gloves on trying to catch a little baby lizzard!

These are those times when my heart just melts!  These happy moments have been happening a little more frequently as Miranda gets older!  As she learns how to do more things Ian is more willing to play with her!

I love when I can hear them laughing and playing in the other room!  Makes me very happy!

Sometimes in the mornings they like to sit on the couch and eat cereal and watch cartoons!!  This was the first day Miranda actually stayed longer than 2 minutes!  This is where we put them if they woke up too early and we want to sleep a little bit longer.  Doesn't always work, but it is worth a try! =)

Fun at the Park

We went to the park the other day (we have been a lot lately actually as the highs are only in the 90's now!) and the kids have so much fun!!

Both my kids are little climbers and love to climb on all the toys!

Slides and swings are always a big hit!

Ian liked pushing Miranda in the swing!

Miranda learned how to go down the twisty slide all by herself!!  She had so much fun climbing up the stairs and going down the slide over and over!! 

She always made the funniest faces on the way down, but was all smiles when she got to the bottom!!

Love my kids!!  They are so fun and make me smile more than anything else!!

Crazy Weather!!

This weather was so crazy.  It didn't start out crazy... just rained really hard!!  (Can't really tell from the pics)  But then it got crazy!

We got hail the size of golf balls!!!  Some were even bigger.  Never in my life (even) in Utah have I seen hail this big!! Cars got dented, our shed got really dented, trees were knocked down, we had garbage and plants all over our front yard!  It was just crazy!  I was so glad Nik got home right before it started hailing so our car didn't get dented, but our neighbors car did like crazy!

Then we had beautiful double rainbows!!

This was the crazy hail!!

This is our tree that split in half!

Even though it was crazy and rainy I loved every minute of it!!  It is so nice to have the weather cool down!!  We had our windows and doors open all morning and all night!  We walked to the park today (got rained on) and it was so nice to play outside without melting!!!! The forecast says it's supposed to stay in the low 90's for the next 10 days!!  Horray for double digits instead of triple digits!!!

Oh so Fun!

This was Miranda's first ponytail!! So cute!

I finally broke down and got playdough!  I think it was $2.99 and it was definately worth it!!  Endless hours of fun for Ian!  Miranda likes it too, but she makes a mess so we wait until she is asleep!

Reading books on Ian's bed!

Just wanted to show how curly Miranda's hair is until she lays on it and it gets frizzy! =) 

Reading the Friend magazine!!  I debated whether I should order it or not and I'm so glad I did!  There are lots of cute stories and great pictures!!  Usually there is a coloring page or two and Ian loves to look at it!

 GARAGE SALE FUN!!

On Saturday morning I went garage sale shopping with a friend from my ward.  I was supposed to meet her at 6:45am.  I woke up and it felt like "Black Friday" to me!  I was so excited!! =) Ha ha!  I really wanted to find a bookshelf or something to put books in.. I was also keeping an eye out for fun kid toys (because we are lacking in that area!)

Needless to say it was a success!!  I found this cute dollhouse bookshelf (shown above), the baby stroller, and this EXERCISE BIKE (shown below)!  It is practically brand new and in great condition!  It works perfectly and even has the extras like heart rate monitors!!  I've been looking for one for a while, but haven't found one this cheap or this nice so I felt like I got a really good deal!  I also got a cute little baby cradle for Miranda and I'm totally giving it to her for christmas!!!  It is a baby cradle that came with a baby and extra clothes and everything!  It was very clean and it was just a Grandma and Grandpa that were selling it because their grand-daughter didn't play with it anymore!  It probably got played with like 10 times... any guess how much I paid for everything?

Bookshelf $15

Stroller $2

Baby Cradle $8

Exercise Bike $40

Total: $65

I felt pretty good about it!! =)

This picture is just proof that sometimes they play together without fighting!! =)

Todays Creation

Today I made chocolate carmel apples!!  I'd say it was successful!

From left to right: Apple Pie (Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory recipe!  Theirs are prettier, but it tastes the same and for a fraction of the cost!!!), candy bar, smores, candy sprinkles!!

All the apples are dipped in carmel, then chocolate, then the topping!

For those of you who have never had an apple pie apple from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (you are missing out!) it is carmel, white chocolate, and a brown sugar/cinnamon mixture!! (HEAVEN!)  And the rest are dipped in regular chocolate with the various toppings!!  I felt pretty creative with the smores apple... I crushed up grahm crackers and added little bits of marshmellow.  After I dipped it in chocolate I dipped it in the grahm crackers and marshmellows and it worked like a charm! 

Miranda was a happy watcher!!