Excuses and The Rocking Chair

Than has been bugging me for weeks to get a new post on the blog because he's tired of looking at Aaron in a dress. I think it is so funny that he checks the blog at work to see if I've posted anything new. Aww, shucks.

The truth is that I haven't posted anything because it seems like nothing interesting is happening. Since Sara started kindergarten I feel my life is just the same routine everyday and I've fallen into a bit of a rut. I spend the days running errands and cleaning and reading to the kids and cooking and doing laundry and setting up forts in the living room. I guess that's just being a mom and it's nothing to complain about. In fact, I actually really do have a great life and so many things to be thankful for. And I wouldn't trade it for anything. But, I just haven't been taking time to notice the moments that make life super special. Or at least, if I do notice them, I don't record them. So everyday just flows into the next.

And the next thing you know, Christmas and New Years and Thanksgiving and Sara's birthday have all passed and I have no desire to blog about them at all. But at least I've taken pictures. Though, let's be honest, they will be stored on the computer for months, if not years, until I finally decide to get them printed. Oh, I sound like such a slacker. Maybe it's just January blahs?

On a happier note, since we've moved, Sara and Aaron have found a special spot in the house where they love to get their picture taken. It's in my bedroom on this rocking chair that was my mother-in-law's when her kids were itty-bitty. They are always asking me to take their picture on this thing. Usually, when I'm folding laundry on my bed, the kids wander in and that's when the magic happens. So now I present my collection, entitled "The Rocking Chair."

My Little Tough Guy

I guess this is what happens when you have a big sister.

The perfect combo: sports pjs and Cinderella slippers.

Oh, but he's such a cutie!!

I love that face!!

We've got some royality at our house. He may be wearing a dress but he knows who he is. He loves to tell us, "I'm a PRINCE!!!"

Family Pictures

A Jazz Game (of sorts)

Does Than loves sports? Of course he does!! And basketball? Loves it. Utah Jazz? Loves 'em. He found out that the Jazz were holding a scrimmage that was open to the public and free, so we decided to check it out. Than and I try to go to at least one game a year and Sara is always asking if she could go with so we thought this would be a good trial run-through. The doors opened at 6:30 (not too late) and they were only going to play for 2 quarters (not too long). What a perfect way to test out how they would do before we to go to a real game and spend a bunch of money!!

The result? Well, they started the festivities by filming a couple of commercials with the crowd in the background. That was long and boring and afterward Than said, "I feel duped." Then the new radio announcer did this Q&A thing while the players did some exercises on the floor. That was pretty boring to me too. But probably interesting to all the people there who went to get a sneak peak at what the team looks like before the season starts. Then the music started!! The kids loved that. The scrimmage was interesting but the kids spend most of their time playing with our phones. What did parents do before having cool cell phones? By the end, they were both so ready to go. So it was a good experiment for us. Maybe we'll try a real game this year, maybe not. I guess that's really not a good experiment if we came to no conclusion afterward. But at least we had some fun.

At the end of the game, Aaron had no smiles. But Than did!

Some Snipets from Summer

What a busy summer!!! Deciding to move, getting the house ready to sell, looking for a new house, packing, moving, unpacking, making new friends . . . Plus some fun vacations and great times with family. Wow!

I've just spent the last hour finally figuring out how to download all of the pictures from my spiffy new camera to the computer (it really was complicated--I had to install special software and everything) and now I am all ready to put them on the blog. So here are a few of my faves from the summer of 2009. And only a few because I never have the patience to upload lots of pictures to blogger. It always seems to take FOREVER!! If anyone has some tips, please let me know!

Aaron's birthday. Remember how he loves shoes? I think he's even saying "shoes!!" in the picture. Look at the delight in his eyes.

More birthday. Yummy cake.

Now here are some pictures from our vacation to St. George. Than, Sara, Aaron, and I drove to the Grand Canyon one day to check it out. It was totally worth the drive for me and Than and totally awesome to see. We went on a teeny-tiny little hike, more like a stroll, but the kids got wiped-out and we had to carry them back to the car.

My guys!!

The 2 cutest kids in the world.

One of the precious pictures that I'm not taking.

Here's more St. George. This is what we did every other day that we weren't seeing natural wonders of the world. SWIMMING!! We were so fortunate to be able to stay in a house with a pool. Thank you grandma and grandpa!

Sweet Sara

My cute hubby!!

Aaron's 2nd favorite thing to do in the pool. His 1st favorite? Jumping off the side and being dunked under water.

Daredevil Sara. I think this picture is awesome!

One last picture in front of our first home.

And now I've said this before (and I'll probably say this again): I'll never go this long with out blogging again!!

What happened in June

If you still read, here's a QUICK recap of our goings-on in June. No pictures, sorry.

1. Aaron turned TWO!! My baby is not so baby-ish anymore. We had a couple of celebrations for him and he got tons of presents. Thank you family!! His favorite? Shoes!!! His least favorite? Superman Cape. He got a bunch of plaid shorts and polo shirts--he is so stylin' with his new duds. He also got his first real haircut (hated it) and now he looks like a little man. My neighbor made this awesome cake that looked like a dinosaur--it was super yummy too.

2. We sold our house and found ourselves a new one. We looked all over the place for "the perfect house" and it turns out that it's just a few miles away. So we are staying in the same town, for now. It's really nice and I love it and I can't wait to move in and show it off. If it all goes well, we'll be in the new house by the end of the month. But I won't say too much now because I don't want to jinx it.

3. We just got home from a family vacation with Than's family. We rented a house in St. George that had a pool and now we all have nice tans. We went to Las Vegas one day to visit some friends, went to the Grand Canyon on another, and just kicked it by the pool the rest of the time. Sara and Aaron loved loved loved the pool! By the end of the vacation, Sara was swimming from end to end (with her life jacket and floaty on). Aaron just wants to jump in and go under water. He's fearless. Totally Scary!!

So June was great. Here's to a fantastic July!!!

Circus Day

Today was Sara's very last day of preschool forever!!! Kindergarten here we come (in 3 months)! At Sara's preschool they don't do any type of graduation, but they do have a big party on the last day. It's called Circus Day and all the teachers dress up like clowns and the kids get to go to each classroom and sing and dance and eat otter pops and goldfish crackers. Sara has been looking forward to this since Circus Day last year. But who wouldn't? Otter pops and goldfish crackers--that's the best of the best if you're a kid.

Sara and her teacher, Mrs. Smart

I was calm, cool, and collected until we went to say good-bye to her teacher from last year. I don't know why that got me, but that was the moment I realized just how big she is getting. I think it is so easy to think of your first child as a baby forever. Maybe that's how it is with all your kids, or maybe it's just me. But at that moment I realized she is not a baby at all. Suddenly, I was swept up with so many feelings: I was so proud of Sara and all that she has accomplished this year and so sad that these days don't last forever and so happy that she IS growing up and becoming such a smart, funny girl.
So I cried happy/sad tears and held her hand as we walked to the car.

Sara on the first day of preschool (August 2008)

Sara on the last day of preschool.

Look how much she's changed. What a cutie-pie!!