We have had a Santa sighting . . .

We went to COSTCO the other day, and saw this cute old man walking around. We stopped to eat before leaving the store and the kids saw Santa eating a yogurt. So obviously they had to go and say hi.

Santa was nice enough to stop and tell the kids that he came to check up on them and that he was glad they were being good.



After my kids left, he had about 8 other kids stop him. The poor man probably had to eat his yogurt melted.

Photo shoot

The photo shoot all started with Sammie having to wear something yellow to Preschool. I decided to attempt to make her a cute top to wear and after finishing it, decided that I did such an awesome job (this is my personal opinion since I didn't have any pattern to follow) that i wanted to take a cute picture of her. Matt and I had decided a couple of years ago to stop going to Kiddie Kandids or other professional photography places and to just start taking our own pictures. We have talked about taking Sammie's picture since she turned four almost 5 months ago. So why not kill two birds with one stone.

I snapped a couple shots of Sammie outside of her preschool. They could be better but I am an amateur. Sammie has this fake smile that she gives for pictures. It involves her shoulders slightly shrugged and a painted smile.



You can tell it is fake because when she is really smiling her eyes just light up like the picture below.



After we dropped Sammie off I decided that Eston needed his 3 year old pictures done as well since he has been 3 for a month now. We went back to her preschool and snapped a few shoots of Eston before school got out.



This little man is one of the happiest kids I know. One of the only things that makes this kid sad is knowing that someone is mad at him. He is very sensitive to others feelings. I have enjoyed spending time with Eston when Sammie is in school.



Both kids wanted to take silly pictures when we were done. Eston pulls the same face every time and happens to throw "the look" into the mix sometimes.



You never know what pose Sammie has come up with to share with you. I call this one, "Dancer meets Baboon"



I love my silly kids. Maybe I need to get a head start on the twins 1 year old pictures so I don't fall behind. I'll just put that on my to do list.

We've been to the fair again . . .

Every year my family goes to the Utah State Fair together. This year was a little crazier because Matt and I had doubled our kid load. The first thing that the kids saw when they walked in was the big tractor by the front gate. They made a chair out of the wheel because it was just their height.



Eston was so curious and running all over. Matt was pretty sure that he might get lost while we were there so he stuck a business card in his back pocket with our cell phone numbers and told Eston that if you couldn't see mom or dad to give that card to someone. Luckily we never did lose him but that boy has a lot of energy and took 3 adults at times to keep tabs on him.



We went on the Big Yellow Slide again this year. Sammie the entire day up until the minute we got to the top of the slide kept telling me that she wanted to ride alone this year. The second we got to the top she backed out and sat on Lindsay's lap. Eston however sat down on his own next to me and held on to my hand and happily went down sitting by himself. At the bottom Sammie said she was ready to go herself now. I had to break the news to her that we were only going once. Sammie loves to strike poses and looks like she had grown up tons in just the last week.



We went and rode the ponies, we saw the livestock area. Logan would just start laughing the minute he saw any animals. He is like his brother. By the end of the night Sammie was so tired from her long day, she crashed in the stroller. The younger three were still going strong.



We had a lot of fun and ran into a lot of friends while we were there.

Good Little Church Boy

Eston is one of the only Nursery kids I know that takes his scriptures to church. It's hard having 1:00 church on a little boy.

Moments like this . . .

It's moments like these that I get a reality check and think, "WOW, I have a lot of kids!" And I love them all to pieces. Bring the Crazy life on!

Sammie's big first . . .

I don't know who has been more excited for this day, Sammie or me. I have been so excited for Sammie to go to school because it is something that she has asked me about everyday for the last year. I am also excited because I have only 3 kids for that time frame which will hopefully lighten my load a little bit and give a chance to spend more one on one time with Eston.
Sammie was very specific on what her backpack needed to look like. Once that was picked out we just needed to wait for the day to arrive.

I obviously made the mistake in thinking that Sammie wouldn't have a preference of her attire. The night before I pulled something cute out of her drawers. Sammie immediately let me know that she was not wearing what I had picked. She went to her closet and pointed at her new fall clothes and told me exactly what out of that pile she would be wearing. She even had her hairstyle picked out. Unfortunately, I have 3 other kids and didn't have time to do the specified style. She was kind enough to let me do something quick.



Sammie was so excited to go out the door this morning. Eston was not so excited and kept asking me if it was time to go pick Sammie up yet.



Sammie and I headed over to Miss Jenn's house for her first day. The parents were invited to stay for the first 30 minutes or so. Sammie wanted a pictures with Miss Jenn and then told me that I was free to go home to Eston and the twins. I told her that I was going to stick around for a little while and she rolled her eyes at me.



I found it funny that a lot of kids were kicking, screaming, and crying for their parents to stay or to leave with them. Sammie kept giving me looks to let me know that I could leave and that I was embarrassing her. Little does she know that this is the beginning of many times that I get to be the embarrassing mom.



Miss Jenn gave all the kids homework to bring back with them on the first day of school. Sammie was supposed to draw a picture of herself and bring it back to class. I was very impressed with her mad skills. FYI Sammie started with the hair and then at the end added the face. Sammie dreams of having long hair like her Aunt Kim and so this is what Sammie would look like with Aunt Kimmy's hair.



Miss Jenn was nice enough to tell Eston that after preschool he can come and pick up his homework from her. Eston wore his backpack all morning. We went to the grocery store and then to school and he had his backpack on the whole time.



When Sammie came up the stairs from Preschool she was beaming. She keeps asking me if it is school day again, and when can she go back to see Miss Jenn and Miss Danielle. This is going to be a fun year for her.

He's Workin Hard. . .

I just LOVE this picture.

I mentioned that we were potty training Eston. I went upstairs to check on the kids and found this.

It's official . .

Lucy took her first steps tonight. She took about 4 steps from me to my sister, Lindsay. Matt was in the other room and missed it.



She has been toying with the idea for a while, and has taken a step in the process of falling. But tonight I can count it. Logan has yet to attempt to stand on his own. I can't believe how old these two are getting. They will be one in less than two months. Crazy!!

Pay Off

After a long day being alone with all the kids I was exhausted. Matt was gone studying. I had gotten all the kids in bed and had gone in my room to clean. When I walked out of my closet I saw Eston (3 years old) standing by my bed, I asked him what was wrong. His only reply was, "You did Awesome today mommy." He gave me a big hug and ran back to his bed.

Now if that wasn't just the sweetest, most sincere compliment a little boy could give. It makes it worth all the BLAH times. I love Eston's ability to sense how people are feeling and to try to make them happy.

This Girl makes me laugh . . .

We were at Target today picking up a prescription. Sammie was looking in the nearby isles. She ran up to me with excitement wanting to show me what she found. When I went to look she said, "Look mom, I found Pink Band Aids." This will be funny to her in about 10 years.