Super Big Picture Post! Early 2011

 The kids playing on the slide on one of our trips to Artic Circle.  This place was nice during the winter because it was close, indoors, big and got their wiggles out.

 One of the first warmish days we had, they insisted on a picnic outside.  They are eating mac and cheese.

 On Sunday afternoon.  And I promise, this picture is not staged!  I walked into the living room and they were all sound alseep on top of each other!  Jeremy sure is a good daddy!

 I was cleaning out the kitchen and the little found these plastic margarita glasses.  They wanted their juice in them.

 Ace loves ice cream!

 My boys!

 I am always finding Lydia in weird places like this.  And with a dirty face.  That girl cannot keep clean!

 She also has taken to making her bed in weird random places.  I also find little beds for dolls everywhere too.  Like, in the kid's training potty.

 Wyatt has a hard time going to sleep by himself.  So we started locking him in his room at night.  At the beginning of this, he would always fall asleep by the door, and we would move him to bed.  This night, he fell asleep propped up in the corner.  Poor kid!  He is sleeping much better now.

 We were all being silly one night before bed and I drew smiley faces on their tummies.  Wyatt thought it was AWESOME!

Wyatt and his best friend Graham.  I have watched Graham all year long.  These two are only a few months apart in age and get along so great!  They are also the trouble twins and have wreaked havoc on many a thing.  It is so fun to see these to together.

Happy Birthday Lydia!

Way back on February 21, Miss Liddy turned two!!!  My baby is really no longer a baby anymore.  I thought it would be sadder, but I am actually really excited to see them all growing up.  We always decorate their bedroom door with streamers and fill their rooms with balloons the night before so they wake up to a surprise!  Then they spend the day running through the streamers and playing with balloons.

Her ladybug cupcakes.  That I made myself!

She was all about opening her presents and blowing out her candles this year!

Her BIG present was a play kitchen that we found at DI for $10!  It was a big hit, especially with the play food and dishes she also recieved.

And books-of course she got books.  We still read these princess books all the time to her.

Her party was on a Sunday, so the 5 of us went out to Artic Circle for her actual birthday dinner the next night.  Everyone had a really good time.  They even got ice cream!

What else to say about our sweet Liddy Lou?  She loves shoes.  Loves them.  She is starting to really improve at talking (however, on her actual birthday, she wasn't really saying much) and really doesn't stop talking, even if you have no idea what she is saying.  Lydia can be VERY girly (wants her nails painted, her hair done, put on tiaras, loves to wear skirts and dresses) but will not hesitate to get down and dirty with the boys either.  She has a white kitty that she takes almost everywhere.  Lydia is also a wonderful dancer and loves music.  She dances everywhere, to everything.  Miss Liddy is really very easy going and says hi to everyone.  She also loves to color.  But she is also fiercely independent and always wants to get her way.  I guess just like any typical 2 year old!  We love you so much Princess!  I cannot wait to see the wonderful person you grow into!

Slipping Through My Fingers. . .

Where is the time going with my sweet baby girl? She will be 2 in just 2 more weeks! Liddy Lou is definately not a baby anymore. She has turned into a little girl. Just now, I was working on some homework while listening to my iTunes and the Abba song "Slipping Through My Fingers" came on and Lydia crawled into my lap and gave me her customary kisses and hugs and just snuggled against me. I make it policy that when my kids crawl into my lap, that I stop and give them my undivided attention for a few minutes. So I stopped what I was doing, put my arms around her and listened to the song.

"Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture and save it from the funny tricks of time."

That lyric came on, and she had decided that she had enough and wiggled down. Before she left my room, she pointed to her eyes, then crossed her arms over her chest, and pointed at me, and grinned. It is the way we taught her to say "I Love You." That picture will be forever saved in my mind. I love you too, my darling sweetheart.

Random 11/17

Today, the babies (actually, I can't call them babies for much longer-they are getting too big!) were watching "Super Why" on PBS. When it got to the part that they said to "put your hand in" (talking to the "audience") Lydia squealed and pointed to the TV. Wyatt, on the other hand, politely shook his head no. I must have laughed for 5 minutes.

Wyatt does a mean robot. We found this out during one of our random dance parties. Lydia has a sweet twirl (and will probably be our singer) and Aidan jumps up and down and wiggles his fanny.

The no cable thing has been one of the best things to happen ever. We get so much more done, we have so much more fun as a family, even the Spirit is stronger. And honestly, we don't miss it all that much.

I had Parent Teacher Conferences for Aidan last week. He is doing great! His handwriting is looking so good, he is a reading maniac and he has a natural talent for math. We are so proud of him! Aidan loves school, loves his teacher, has great friends, and just has a desire to do good.

I am getting so excited for Christmas. I am making a good majority of gifts this year (unfortunately, I can't post about several of them yet because then it wouldn't be a surprise for you!) and it has been fun to find materials and try to make it perfect for the person recieving the gift. I love this time of year!

Wyatt, Lydia and I spent and hour and a half at the pet store today. We looked at every fish, every reptile (Lydia did not like these so much), every rodent (I think they both wanted to bring home a ferret) and every bird in the store. The were so excited and I just loved seeing them observing all the animals. I love watching them have experiences like this.

We got family pictures done. They really turned out well. Luckily, most of you will be recieving one shortly in your Christmas card. I think I look hot. You'll have to let me know what you think ;) I am designing new wall decor around this picture. I'll have to post when I get it done and perfect.

Jeremy and I are going to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow Part 1 on Saturday. I am so excited! 1-because I get to go on a date with Jeremy! We haven't done that in a while and 2-I love Harry Potter!

The Mischief Makers

They found the food coloring. Three baths later, they were closer to their original color. However, the jammies were not to be saved. I am just thankful that they took it outside to experiment with. These 2 are not to be trifled with. I swear, they play off each other!

Bed Head

My kids have the best hair when they wake up!

Krazy Kids #1

I walk into the living room, and see a sea of chocolate animal crackers covering the carpet, with 3 kids sitting in the middle.

Me: What the . . .?

Aidan: (pointing at Wyatt) Wyatt did it! It is Wyatt's fault!

Wyatt: (pointing at Lydia) No, Leedia!

Lydia: (grins, and eats a cracker)

They all got to help clean up.

Playing in the Backyard

Just a bunch of pictures of pretty much the only nice day we have had since last September. (I am pretty sure these were taken in April!) We love our backyard! It is so fun! Rain, Rain GO AWAY! We want to enjoy our yard more!

When it Rains, It Pours!

We have had a rough 10 days or so. You don't really have to read this, but I just had to write it down so I could believe it!

It all started last Tuesday, when the kids and I were at McDonald's playing. Some older kids (8 or 9ish) started picking on Wyatt! Anyway, in the midst off all of that, he got a nice cut above his eye. (I wish I had a picture-it was a beauty.) It should have had stitches, but I thought it would be okay. I should have taken him in for stitches-it got infected. It is all good now, and chicks dig scars, right? He has also come to me with all sorts of random bumps, bruises, cuts and scrapes.

We also need to schedule some kidney tests for him in the very near future.

The next day, I took Lydia in for her 14 month shots. She had a CRAZY reaction to the MMR, and less than 3 hours after receiving the immunization, her face was covered in red spots and then she developed hives all over the rest of her body (I wish I had pictures of this too-it was crazy! She didn't even look like Lydia!). She was miserable and itchy, but Benedryl took care of it in a few days. Just as her body was getting rid of the reaction, she caught strep throat and was even more miserable! One night, we ended up taking her in to the ER. She had a fever of 108 and she couldn't breathe. (She has been in the ER twice in her life, yet my very active little boys have never been-go figure.) Miss Liddy got some antibiotics (she is allergic to several kinds, so we have to be careful which ones we give her) and lots of Motrin/Tylenol. She finally started to feel better. During all of this, she has also cut 4 teeth. Poor sweet little girl! She has been seriously doped up on drugs. Now she is really clingy, because we have been holding her for almost 2 weeks straight! Hopefully she grows out of that soon. My arms are getting tired.

And now Aidan. He had a double ear infection. It turns out that he has some issues with his ear anatomy that is affecting his hearing and we need to see an ENT for some surgery in the near future.

On top of all that, our dryer stopped working, I cut the bottom of my foot and Jeremy has worked about 65 hours a week! I am tired. I sure hope that things slow down for us. I find absolutely nothing wrong with being nice and bored.

Good Night, Sleep Tight

Is there nothing better than sleeping children?

A Walk on the Wild Side

I might have my hands full in the future. We seem to be raising some crazy kids! Aidan went to a birthday party yesterday and got this cool snake tattoo. He insisted he put it one RIGHT NOW. He thinks he is so cool-he says that he is the coolest kid on the block with a tattoo. Where do they learn this stuff?Here is my princess sporting a rockin' mohawk. It is everything I can do to keep ponytails in her hair. She usually leaves them in until naptime, when she tears them out (hair included) and she spends the rest of the day looking like this. Lydia seems to prefer the punk look.Sigh.

Happy Easter!

Just like every holiday, ours was fun and busy! The Easter bunny visited us Sunday morning, bring all the kids Easter baskets. (I just love putting together the baskets, it is my very favorite part of the holiday!) This year, the Easter bunny also brought us a plastic picnic table with an umbrella. The kids were very excited to have this and have begged me to keep it in the front room for a while. We'll see how many times it takes me to stub my toe or trip over it before I throw it on the porch.
After baskets and some Conference, we loaded up to have lunch and an egg hunt with the Barnes cousins. There were TONS of eggs and everyone got plenty loaded up. I really was wishing Lydia was walking. She would have had muchh more fun if she were. And it was so fun to see the Roberts and the Patterson's. We really miss you guys! Aidan, with "big" cousins, Dillon, Kaleb, and Xander. They helped him load his basket. Wyatt took awhile to get into the swing of things, but eventually he got it. Once he discovered that there was actual candy in the eggs, he was much more eagar to go hunting. Pretty Liddy. She liked to shake the eggs. Her cousin Sam helped her outThe kids and their take. We have lots of candy now!

After dinner and the egg hunt at the Barnes', it was time to head over to the other Grandparent's house for dinner (and even more candy baskets!)Grandpa Arenaz, Dad and Aidan Wyatt and Lydia. They got M&M's in their baskets and were really excited by it.
This morning, before Conference started, Jeremy and I sat down with Aidan with the Gospel Art Kit and explained the real Easter story. We felt that was important because he was completely focused on the Easter bunny and candy and egg hunts. I was shocked at how much he actually knew of the Easter story and resurrection. Plus, it was good for us to have a moment to reflect on the Savior as well.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend. Let's all pray for spring now! I am sure getting antsy for warm weather!

A Room Fit for a Princess

WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY AND DRIPPING WITH CUTENESS! PROCEED WITH CAUTION!

So, I have been wanting to redo my daughter's room, well, ever since she was born. I didn't like the crib bedding we had, etc. I always had an excuse. But I didn't know exactly what I wanted, so Jeremy put the kibosh on that plan until I KNEW what I wanted (he has these crazy ideas on not spending money on things we didn't really need/want-silly boy ;) ). So, I was just trying to be content with what I had until I saw THESE prints on an everyday trip to Target. I finally KNEW what I wanted to do in her room. A princess room for our little Princess! Perfect! And the prints were on sale (double yay!) so I added them to my cart with all sorts of fun ideas swirling around in my head.

The room was already painted this beautiful shade of light pink, so we were set there. These prints went over the changing table (which Jeremy made for me when pregant with Aidan) and the white dresser we already had. Also, the crib is white too. On the other side of the room is her crib, and above the crib we (by we, I mean Jeremy hung them and I told him where to put them) hung 5 small white shelves that we bought at Home Depot (YAY!) On the shelves, are a few porcelin dolls from my childhood, a collection of tiaras (which I intend to add to) some princess books (which I also intend to add to), empty picture frames (which I intend to put pictures in at some point) and some adorable letter blocks spelling out LYDIA that I got from my favorite children's boutique in town. I also covered the Princess word with stick on jewels for a bit of fun. I show you the crib only to point out the beautiful tulle bedskirt. Isn't it sweet and perfect for a princess? And the blanket hanging is a gift for Lydia from my grandma. The window wall. The gauzy curtains were from my sister's wedding. Every princess room MUST have floor length gauze curtains, don't you think? Her bow hanger (yes, I realize that is an obscene number of bows. I don't really care.) I really got into this craft project. I used my Cricut to cut out pink vinyl letters and affixed them to this board hanging with pink and white ribbons for her clips to attach to. I also found this wooden crown, painted it white and hot glued "jewels" to it and used it for a "topper." I made 2 wooden crowns and used the other for. . . This (because I love symetry). I found this matching print (actually, it is a growth chart) on the Target website and I had to have it (it was on sale too-see, this room was totally meant to be!). I embellished it with a ribbon and crown hanger and if you look very closely, you can see that there are "jewels" hanging from the ribbons.Okay, this *might* be my favorite part of the room. After I (well, Jeremy) hung the curtains, I felt that the space above the window was too plain. I had the idea to cut out white vinyl crowns with my Cricut and embellish them with more "jewels". It turned out perfect. It was exactly what that space needed.

And that is Miss Lydia's princess room. Probably my favorite room in the house now (well, I really love my kitchen too.) Thanks for letting me share. So, what do you think? I am particuarly proud of how it turned out. It is even better in person (since I am no photographer) so if you are in the neighborhood, stop by! One last picture-every princess must have a pony, right? Except this pony spends a lot more time in the living room being rode on by the princes who also inhabit this castle.