oh yeah, i have a blog

i thought it was time for a new post. we've been so busy, and having so much fun. and we took some family photos at thanksgiving time, when everyone was together.it's the first time i've LOVED a photo of myself. thanks to my friend jennifer for making me and tim look good:) i'd love to go on...i have some other fun photos to upload, but i cannot access them now. i promise to soon. merry christmas to everyone!

funny boy

i caught the kids one day playing with annie's music stand. i'm always surprised at the things tucker picks up from his older siblings.

this one's just funny. "fat boy in a little" chair. or should i say a "bitty" chair for afton's bitty baby. he kept trying to sit down when the chair was no where near his bottom.

these are especially for aunt maci to enjoy:) v

the party fit for a princess

for about six months afton was planning a princess party for her 3rd birthday. i wasn't going to throw a party, but she gave me no choice in the matter. she is completly obsessed with sleeping beauty.

the grand entrance

the other princesses who attended the fancy luncheon

the fancy table (chair covers for three year olds? am i insane??)

jumping princesses

the look on afton's face here made it all worth it

sugar overload

i think the reason i never crave snickers and m&ms is because i eat so much that one night in october to last the rest of the year. tim makes a cute cow, no?

this tin man was at the pumpkin patch we went to at apple hill. can we get a photo where everyone is looking at the camera please??

ikick

7 at last!

birthdays are always a big deal for mia for a multitude of reasons: 1) she is "finally the same age as everyone else in my class, but now they're all turning 8!" 2) who doesn't love a day devoted to them, especially when presents are involved? 3) "i get to have more than one sugar!" (she definitely inherited a sweet tooth from her mother, so we've had to limit her...oh, and she gets sugar-crazed)

we had a little playdate/party for her after school at the park. it was a good turnout, and her wonderful friends spoiled her rotten.

all the friends, silly faces

it was so hot that day, we got ice cream treats for the party. then a friend reminded me that she needed candles to blow out, so i ran to the store and got a piece of "afterthought" birthday cake.

our summer

Tim and I celebrated our 10th anniversary this august. it doesn't seem possible that we have crammed so many ups, downs, and children into 10 measly years. we escaped to a cute b&b in santa cruz. loved the place!!

of course we went to the boardwalk. (tim's face resembles tuck's a few pictures down:)

we saw some big trees. tim looks like an ant.

these are the gorgeous flowers they put in our room. i think dahlias are my new favorite.

Annie was able to participate in a couple of volleyball camps. she loves the sport, and seems to have a knack for it.

of course tim is proud.

We got to spend a week up at donner lake. tim was offered a coaching job for a volleyball camp in truckee. the camp director erica set us up with a free place to stay. it was a fun, relaxing week. we are ready to move there! the rental we stayed at was in walking distance of the lake. when tim and annie were at the volleyball camp, the other kids and i would walk down to the dock to throw rocks in the water.

tuck and afton eating pancakes for breakfast. mmm. i love tucker's face in this picture.

tucker liked to throw rocks too.

we watched lots of movies. afton and mia got snuggly so they could both see the little screen.

we went to the museum one day. tucker was fond of the fake fish.

the museum has a cute, well-manicured trail next to it. the kids love "nature walks" (it's a nature walk to them if it isn't next to a busy street). annie is a total ham.

We went to six flags discovery kingdom. it's no disneyland, but it did fulfill the girls' desire for some amusement park fun. we "discovered" that the food there is overpriced, and that annie has no fear of thrill rides...she was only limited by her height. mia was okay when she wasn't tall enough to ride. annie and mia on the pirate ship...classic. afton getting ready to ride "kung fu panda" as she called it.

tucker was out of his mind with excitement on the mini-merry-go-round. this was his face for pretty much the entire experience.

We had a fun day at alder creek with friends.

Baby boy turned 1! we had a truck-themed party for him. my cake wreck. note: DO NOT buy buttercream frosting from the sam's club bakery. it does not spread.

we took a lot of day trips to the beach. mia loved to get dirty. she was the bravest...always getting in the cold water, even if it was windy that day.

afton loved to get her legs buried.
annie loved to dig holes.

I think we all had a fun, busy summer. we really made the most of tim's time off, and i'm glad we did. now that he's back in school and working, we never see him! miss you timmy!!

our 4th

of july, not our 4th kid...although he dominates the photos...

we had a very fun (very eventful) holiday weekend. spent the whole day in swim suits on friday, between the pool and the lake. sometimes i check my kids for gills, because they never get sick of swimming. we started off saturday morning with our little neighborhood parade. the fun part is always decorating the bikes and wagons.

tucker, eyeballing a baby in another wagon. i love how fat his face looks.

daddy, pulling the kiddies in a very patriotic fashion

mia, with decorated bike and face

afton, bringin up the rear

after the parade, we went to our ward's ice cream picnic. annie especially enjoyed the waterballoon in the face (not really).

following the picnic, we all came home and crashed. glorious 2 hour naps for all! tim and i decided not to spoil such a lovely day by having to make dinner, so we took the fam for a good-ol' american burger at in-n-out. then we went to the grayson's for more fun: swimming and fireworks (that seemed to never end!). needless to say, my kids were in heaven.

this is mommy torturing tucky. we kept him up past his bedtime so we could enjoy his reaction to the fireworks.

he thoroughly enjoyed them.

hula

sorry about the lack of sound. the really good mom that i am forgot to bring the real video camera to the ward luau. this was taken with tim's phone. annie is in the front on the right, and the song is "little brown gal." she did an awesome job.

mister

i love this boy. he has so many new tricks. he plays catch (throwing a ball and chasing it are his favorites). he is always on the move. he loves to sit in his swing. he loves to play with his sisters. we are still practicing words with him, but i think he has dada down. if he wants something he just yells for it, or he does a funny monkey sound. tucker has (finally) slept all night in his bed...the past 2 nights. we are hoping this is a new trick, my favorite so far. he is VERY ticklish. he likes to throw mini tantrums where he throws his body back to the floor. the funny thing is that he's learned that it hurts, so now he throws his elbow down first to soften the blow. he's most calm when he's sitting on daddy's lap, especially while daddy plays bubblespinner. it's mesmerizing to him. tuck is enthralled with technology. favorite "toys": 1) laptop, 2) flip cell phone (toy phones will work for a minute, but he prefers the real thing), 3) home phone, 4) remote controls. he just started holding the phone to his ear, which squishes his cheek and makes it look so fat and cute! best of all, he gives kisses. his mouth is usually open, but he leans in for them after prayer. he's my favorite baby boy.

the party

the friends

the birthday girl





the cupcakes and singing



the sister and friend with twin suits





the goodwill

instead of presents, annie had her friends bring canned food for the foodbank here in folsom. the next day we delivered the food. it was a good experience for everyone involved.