Teenage Drama Queen

Matt and I are in for the ride of our lives with Sammie.

Sammie was told she couldn't wear her Tiara because it was bedtime. She immediately broke down in tears and replied with, "You breakeded my life!"

The day before Sammie was on timeout for hitting, and through her massive sobbing, we here her utter over and over again, "You breakeded my heart."

She is also in LOVE with High School Musical. My cousin said that her 3 year old couldn't get enough of the movie, so I thought I would try it out. Sammie has been dancing along with it and we just barely borrowed it late last night. We are on her 3rd run of it.

Tiny Dancer

It is official. Sammie is now the happiest little girl in the world. All she ever does at our house is dance around and tell us what she learned in dance class that day. The only problem with that is that she wasn't taking a dance class, or anything extra curricular for that matter.

After asking around, and calling many places, I found Sammie a dance class that is affordable and the best part is that it is only 5 minutes from our house. Sammie was over the moon when we went to go pick out ballet and tap shoes. She could hardly contain herself.


What makes the class even funner, is that she has two friends that signed-up with her. Sammie insisted on taking a picture with Salote and Etta.



Now she doesn't have to keep pretending that she is in dance. She was just beaming from ear to ear.

Straight Hair Sammie

Sammie has this really crazy curly hair. It is great most of the time, because it is really easy to do. However, when we don't do her hair, it is CRAZY and that is no understatement. Here is Curly Anne lovin' her sister.



Since church has now moved to 1:00 we tend to have just a little bit of extra time in the mornings. I was in the bathroom doing my hair (with a straightener) and Sammie wondered in and asked what I was doing. She requested that I make her hair straight like mine. Sammie didn't want any curl left. I thought this could be fun to see just how long her hair was. Sammie sat still while we blow-dryed and straightened her hair. Afterward, she pranced around the house as if she was in a beauty show.



Matt and I kept looking at her all day and commenting on how different she looked. We sure missed our little Curly Anne. I don't think we will be doing this hair style very often.

Fun Play Date Week!!

Sammie and Eston have been missing their friends from Salt Lake lately. To remedy this problem, we decided to make a play date with many of them. We met a large group at the Kangaroo Zoo in North Salt Lake and let the kids go wild. This place had multiple inflatable slides, and other toys. The best part is that there is only one exit so they can't escape without you knowing. It was fun to see everyone.



>Sammie and Eston loved the bounce house that had a slide attached.



The next day my mom called to let me know that she had gotten my sister in-law and I a gift for Christmas that she had forgotten to give us. Nana had bought a pass for us to go the Discovery Gateway. This pass allows us to take friends along with us. Since we were supposed to be meeting up with Sammie's friend, Salote, we decided that we would just meet over at the Gateway. We had a fun afternoon. The girls had fun pretending that they were many things, including Anchors at Channel 5 news. You can see little crewman Eston running around behind the desk.



We also went t a Little Scientist class. While we were waiting for the class to start, Sammie went over to this magnetic board and started pulling letters off. I didn't realize what she was doing until I saw her start to place them on the board in order (backwards). I thought it was pretty neat and had to get a picture of the proud little girl.



For the class the kids got to dig for dinosaur eggs. Eston especially enjoyed this.



The best part of the week is that we found Sammie a dance class. She is so excited to start taking Ballet and Tap. We have spent the last couple of days purchasing all the little things that go along with dance classes. We still have yet to purchase size 10 1/2 tap shoes, but otherwise we are set. I'm so excited for my tiny dancer.

Little America get away!!

Matt knows that one of the random things that I love is staying in hotels. I don't know why, I just love to go and stay in hotels. So as a belated Anniversary celebration, Matt and I decided to take the 4 kids and go stay somewhere in Salt Lake. We got on PriceLine and bid a really low rate for a 4 star hotel and ended up at the Little America. The kids loved it as did I.

Upon getting into our room, the kids decided that they needed to see how bouncy the beds were. We don't let them jump on their beds at home, so we decided to let them go wild there.



We went out to eat since we received a gift card for Christmas. Sammie drew this beautiful artwork at our table. This is here first stick person (on the far right). Sammie stopped long enough to take a couple of bits of food, but otherwise she was glued to the table and her coloring.



After dinner we went back to the hotel and took the kids swimming. Eston was so excited to be in the pool as long as he had two hands on you and you had two hands on him. It took both of us to get him to leave the pool.



Sammie was excited to jump in the pool, kick, swim a little, but would not go under the water.



We had a lot of fun and would love to do it again in another year. After we checked out of the hotel, Matt took Sammie and Eston on a TRAX ride. They loved it.

A Visit with Santa Claus and Ice Skating!!

This year we must have seen Santa Claus about 4 different times. Each time Sammie and Eston were always excited to see him. Sammie would sit down with Santa and go through her list, but Eston would sit down and just say "presents". We took these pictures at our ward party. We were able to get this picture before the rest of the ward knew Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus had arrived.



It was fun that we were able to get the twins picture with Santa before everyone else came out.



Sammie asked Santa for a hair style kit, a microphone, and a guitar (for Eston).



Eston asked Santa Claus for a car that was blue. This was the first we had heard of his request and had to make a last minute trip to the store.



It occurred to me that I forgot to post a few of our Christmas time pictures and events. Matt's office had a family Christmas party this year and rented out the Gallivan Center for Ice Skating. We sent the twins over to Lindsay's house and took the older two for a little mom and dad time. We had really good food and enjoyed watching Sammie and Eston try ice skating. Eston loved it. He kept telling Matt "self. . .self" (that is his favorite word). Matt finally said ok and let go. Eston fell, stood up and asked for help. We had a hard time getting him off of the ice.



Sammie was so excited to go ice skating. I took her around once and she wanted to try by herself and didn't even get the second foot onto the ice. I took her around once more and then Matt tried and she decided it was harder than she thought and asked if she could sit and watch. Sammie has asked when we get to go again. Apparently, she had fun and wants to get better.

The Imaginary friends just keep coming!!

Sammie has filled our house with her creativity and imaginary friends. Last January was the beginning of the imaginary friends with the IKEA dog from this post.

It has now expanded to many more. To name the most common in our household I would have to start with "Little Brynn." Little Brynn goes every where with us. If we go somewhere and Sammie left her at that location, I have to be go back and get her or be very creative on how I am going to get her home without Sammie catching on. We also have to new dogs that have joined our home. Their names are "Bone Chip" and "Mingo". When a mess is made at the table, somehow it is one of these two mutts that have caused it.

There are several more imaginary friends, but they are constantly changing. If Sammie gains anymore we might have to find a new place to put them all.

Washer and weights!!

We received our new washing machine on January 2nd. Happy Anniversary to Matt and I!! It was the best gift ever. We decided to go for a front loader since it had pretty lights and apparently saves us money. Eston could not get enough of the machine. He sat in front of the washer while we ran two loads. Every time it stopped he would tap the front and when it would start to spin again, he would turn in circles until it stopped and needed to be tapped again. I think Eston's excitement alone was worth our money. Did I mention it had pretty lights!!



Today I took Logan and Lucy in for the 2 month check-up.

Lucy weighed 10 lbs. 13 oz. and was 22 1/2 inches. That puts her in the 50% for both height and weight. Her head was in the 95%. The head is a big deal, because Sammie and Eston were both off the charts for their heads. In fact, I think they still are.



Logan weighed 11 lbs. 13 oz. and was 24 inches. He was also in the 50% for height and weight and the 80% for head.



Believe it or not, both babies heads are the exact same measurement. They both look healthy and cried when they got their shots, so it was a success.

The Twins Blessing!!

On January 4th, we blessed our twins and Sammie started sunbeams. It was a nice family-centered day.

Saturday afternoon Dallas and Brenda came down from Idaho with Kim and Braden. We had a lot of fun playing games and ordering take-out. The next day Tony, Jordan and Kate came down, along with Grandpa Leland and Grandma Ila. We had a relaxing morning and then headed to the church. We met up with my dad, Lindsay, Carly, Dallin (and Christine), Spencer and his girlfriend, and Grandpa Burke. It was really neat for Grandpa to come, because him and Gram haven't been in the best of health lately. It meant a lot to me. Matt gave a wonderful blessing to both children. Since church now was starting at 1:00, we had plenty of time to take pictures.



My mom looked at this picture and said that Logan and Lucy looked like they were going to the prom. I love that Logan is holding Lucy's hand.



My cute neighbor had made both babies these cute booties. I couldn't resist getting a foot shot.



Matt's grandmother, Shirley, had made both of the babies these cute afghan's for their blessings. I have one for Sammie and Eston as well. It will be a nice family keepsake.

Logan is very into what is going on around him, he likes to be part of the group, but is happy just watching.



Lucy is always good for a smile and a fun chat. She will talk to you non-stop if you give her a little attention. She is a joy to have around.



As mentioned above Sammie started Sunbeams this week. Yes, this is my first child advancing into Primary, so I am a little excited. I walked her in and her eyes lit up immediately. She found a chair next to a friend and waved goodbye to me. I looked in on her about 10 minutes later during singing time. Sammie was having a ball. She was singing the songs she knew and trying hard on the ones that she didn't. She was reverent and polite when asked, and always with her bright smile. She was enjoying herself and I was so proud to see her there. Sammie looked so grown up. When Relief Society ended I went to pick her up. I was one of the first parents there, but when I found her she was in tears. I asked what was wrong and her teacher told me that Sammie thought we had left her. I was heartbroken that she even thought that would happen. The teacher said that she had a great day till the end. Sammie and I had a chat and I think she is finally excited to go again next week.

Happy 5th Anniversary Baby!!

Happy 5th Anniversay, yesterday!!



It's been an amazing 5 years. I love this man!!! He is honestly my best friend and the one person that I get all twitterpated just thinking about.
He is an amazing dad and makes my life as a mom seem easy (he also cleans up throw-up.) Thanks for the 4 wonderful children in 5 years. I definitely would never have thought we would be where we are, but would not have it any other way.

I love you baby, and your little toe too!!