For Halloween this year. the kids picked pretty easy costumes, and actually stuck with their decisions. We got to dress up a few different times this year. We had a ward Fall Festival that we attended and that is where I snapped these pictures. I'm glad I didn't it then instead of waiting. It was pouring rain the night we went Trick or Treating and so the kids only wore parts of their costumes and I didn't even dress up the twins. I drove the older two kids door to door so it would cut down on how much they got wet. The older two also got to dress up for their Halloween programs that their schools put on.

Samantha decided to reuse her dance costume from last year and was a purple and black fairy. She picked to be called Megan the Monday fairy from the Fairy books by Daisy Meadow. I'm glad she picked the character based on her costume instead of me having to come up with something based on the character.


Eston really wanted to be Diego for Halloween. He made this easy by settling on items we had around the house. He got BACKPACK for his birthday and we printed out a DIEGO watch and badge from the Nick Jr. website. He loved it and told everyone about it when he went door to door.



This has been one of my favorite costumes over the years. Logan went as Superman. Maybe I love it because he got to wear two forms of underwear. Royal blue long johns, and Eston's red underwear. I made the cape and emblem a few years ago for Eston. Logan was grinning from ear to ear all night long.



Oh, Lucy!! To start out I just need to say that Lucy was happy. This is her saying cheese for the camera. She looks like she is in pain. Lucy was also a fairy like Sammie. You can't see her wings because they are small. She loved her twirly skirt, but loved the candy more than anything.



Our next adventure, Potty Training!!! I might need chocolate!

My girls

We have had a lot going on for the Thanksgiving holidays. Matt's brother got married and obviously we had Thanksgiving. However I have no pictures from these yet so I will post later on them.

These are just some fun or funny things that we have been doing. I tried curlers for the first time on Sammie's hair. We had a lot of fun and it turned into a major curly fro. Sammie's natural curl boosted with curlers is out of control. I should have taken an after picture.



Lucy is everywhere. She figured out how to get in and out of the kids dresser. She loves to play peek a boo inside of it.



We tried a wig on Lucy and she looks like a completely different baby.



We had fun with Sammie when Sammie was about 6 months old. It is weird to see how close in looks these two girls have.



This is what things look like when I am muli tasking on the go. I thought this was funny.



Have I mentioned that Lucy is into and onto everything? She loves to climb on, in, out, and through things. She keeps us pretty busy.

First offering of Tithes . . .

Sammie really wanted to have the new Hannah Montana movie. I told her that she had some money in her piggy bank and that if she really wanted it she could earn the rest. It took Sammie two weeks to earn the money for this movie. She was really patient and worked hard.

Matt and I decided that this would be a good time to teach her the importance of tithing and why we pay it. So not only did she earn the money for her movie she earned the extra money it would take to pay her tithing.

Sammie was really excited to be able to fill out the envelope, put her money in, seal it, and give it to the Bishop. Matt helped her spell her last name and feel out the slip that goes in the envelope. He added translation just in case her handing writing was unreadable.

For your own translation this says "Samantha Clinger." She wanted to write her long name out for the Bishop.



I think my daughter was more excited to pay her tithing than she was to actually get the movie she had earned. I am really proud of her. She is already on to the next item that she wants to work for, and yes, Sammie has already asked how much she needs extra for tithing. I love her so much.

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.

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.

Boys vs. Girls

To start this post, the girls win, just because Matt took no pictures of his adventure with the boys, so this is all about us.

Matt and I had a lot going on in the last week. Spencer (my brother) graduated from High School on Thursday night, Braden (Matt's brother) graduated from High School in Idaho on Friday night, and Sammie had her dance rehearsal and recital for most the day on Saturday. In order to support and accommodate all that we happening we decided the best way to handle this would be to divide and conquer. Matt took the two boys up to Idaho on Thursday night and I stayed behind with the girls.

We started our adventure out by heading to Ogden for Spencer's graduation. This has been a long awaited moment for our family.
Sammie really wanted to get a picture with Spencer and my girls. We are PROUD of you buddy.



I told Sammie that she had to take a nap because we had a lot going on this weekend and I needed her to be in a good mood. She wasn't too happy about this so she decided to protest. Too bad she feel asleep during her SIT IN. I was laughing because I could just picture what was going through her mind when she zonked.



On Friday, the girls and I headed to the mall to help Spencer with a little clothes shopping. We had a lot of fun and ended up bringing home a new member of the family.
This is Gabriella, the bear. (The name was picked from High School Musical, go figure.)



Lucy was a great sport. She was a delight to be with. She flirted with the clerks, and was laughing. I just felt bad when she feel asleep. Apparently this stroller wasn't as cushy as she had hoped. It was too cute to watch.




Friday night we had arranged to spend the night at Lindsay's house. Sammie was in girl heaven. We ate dinner, painted toe nails, watched a movie and then she settled in for the night on the hide-a-bed.
On Saturday after the dance rehearsal, Lucy and I took Sammie out for brunch with Etta and Anni from dance. These girls have known each other for a long time and can be such goof balls together.




The boys came home just in time for Matt to catch Sammie's dance recital. We had a great time but sure missed our men folk. It's nice to be a big family of 6 again.

Sammie's Dance Recital

Sammie just finished her first dance recital. She was adorable. I don't know who was more excited for her big night, her or me.

This past few months she has been taking dance with 4 of her friends. Every week she was so excited to go to class. She never complained and always kept trying to tell me that I couldn't be late (kinda hard with 4 kids under 4).

This girl was in her element.
This is her dance class. She took with Anni, Etta, and Salote.



I had to laugh at this picture because this was one of my favorite poses for years when I was a kid.



I took a few pictures at her rehearsal.




They are all looking to the side because that is were their teacher was standing to help them out. We loved having Miss Natalie as a dance teacher this year and hope she comes back for next year.



Sammie had a tough time getting ready for her big night. Saturday morning she woke up with the sniffles but acted ok. But by 3:00 in the afternoon (1 hour before she had to be at the recital) she had a total melt down. She was sick with a head cold. I tried to curl her hair and she screamed, I offered to stop she screamed louder, I told her I would skip the make-up and she screamed, I put the make-up on her and screamed she wanted it off. Sammie was sick and she was crying, but was also determined to get to her recital. I debated about what to do. I figured if it was a little head cold I would send her because it was such a big night for her and she has looked forward to it for a long time.



She did great and was adorable to watch. She had a painted smile on her face and was one of the few preschool dancers in her class that followed the teachers dance moves. We were very proud of her.



FYI: We came home that night and around 10:30 at night Sammie got slammed with what appears to be croup. Poor little girl (and sorry to all dancers she hung out with), her big night and she wasn't at her top level. She is a trooper.

HSM Date

All those that know Sammie, know that she is OBSESSED with all things High School Musical. We watch one of the movies about everyday. We listen to the music in the car. Sammie AND Eston both dance to it when the songs come on. Sammie even has memorized 90% of the choreography.

So it was quite a treat for her when we found out that a local arts center was putting on a production of HSM (that is lingo) for free at Bountiful High. Sammie and I went and had a great time. Nana let her wear the East High Cheerleading costume and we met up with my cousin, Ashley, and her two girls, Brookie and Maren. The girls had a great time.



After the show was over Sammie wanted to take a couple quick pics. This is Sammie and her cheerleading team. GO WILDCATS!!



Sharpay, Sammie, and Ryan



Sammie even wanted to stand on the steps of the school and show me a quick cheer.



We followed up the evening by running a few errands, stopping for some dinner at Paradise, and then coming home to administer 3 children's Tylenol and to put her to bed by 6:00. She was so tired and getting over being sick, that she slept 14 hours that night. What would it be like to sleep that long. I wish for the day. Thanks Sammie for taking me out for a good time.

Pinkalicious is 4!!

This is a long post, WARNING!!

On May 11th, we celebrated Sammie's 4th birthday. We started the festivities out with a big Pinkalicious party on May 9th. Sammie invited 12 girls to come dressed in pink to the park and play. It was centered on cupcakes, pink, and all things girly. We had a lot of fun. We started the party out by reading the book Pinkalicious. It is one of Sammie's favorite stories.



There was a lot of family there to help. Grandma Brenda and Kim came down from Idaho to play with us. Nana, Carly, Cathy and Lindsay also pitched in with several things. I don't think I could have pulled this off without all their help. Lindsay painted all of the girls faces with cupcakes, flowers, etc.



The girls decorated pink cupcakes to use later for the game pin the cupcake on Pinkalicious. Then they got to take them home to put on their fridge as a magnet.



Other party fun included painting every one's fingernails pink. That went over big.
Anyone who knows Sammie knows that she loves attention and she received a lot that day. She was in heaven with all the friends that came.



Even Lucy was happy to be part of the party. You wouldn't guess it from this picture though.



This is Sammie with her cousin Christine. I love this picture. Christine is just adorable.



On Monday, May 11th, we sang to Sammie as she came down the stairs. She was finally 4. I let her pick her birthday breakfast. She choose Pancakes. I through some chocolate chips in them for fun. She didn't like that. Kudos for being healthy girl.



This year Matt and I gave Sammie her first 2 wheel bike. (okay it still technically has 4 wheels, but has the potential to just be two wheels.) Later in the day we went and picked out a new helmet and elbow and knee pads. Everyday she asks if we can go outside to ride bikes. She loves it.



Here are a few quick likes that Sammie has:
Books: Pinkalicious, Eloise, Olivia, Fancy Nancy, and Samantha (American Girl series)
Favorite Food: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
Favorite Drink: Root Beer
Favorite toy: dress ups and jewelry
Favorite Movie: Anything High School Musical
Favorite Color: Pink and Purple
Sammie is very into how she wears her hair and what she wears each day. Sammie is a planner (surprise with that pedersen gene) and loves to help decide what our agenda is going to be for the day. She loves little kids and wants to mother them. She is an amazing big sister and likes to be with her 2 brothers and sister. She is already talking about boyfriends, dates, and her girls. We are in trouble with this one.

Happy Birthday Pumpkin!! We love you tons.

She did it!

Today is the day that Sammie finally learned how to write her name by herself. I'm proud of you princess!

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.