Church went like this...

So today we were in up in Logan for church. We were not quite sure if we should even try to take Kaitlyn to nursery, since she barely started going at home. But we gave it a try and she stayed for half of the class. That was definitely progress for her so we were happy. When we got home Greg was trying tell Kaitlyn that nursery was cool. The conversation went a little like this....

Greg- Kaitlyn did you have more fun in nursery, or in mom and dad's class?

Kaitlyn- My class was embarrassing

Greg- What?! Why is your class embarrassing?

Kaitlyn- Because I cried!!

I am not sure we will ever master this nursery thing!!

Our First Day

Well we did it, we took the girls skiing for the first time this year. The day went just about how we expected, a few tears but not to bad. We were reminded of the first year we took Matayia skiing and it definitely tested our patience. This year will be no different with Kaitlyn.



As soon as we got our skis on Matayia was ready to go. It seems as though our previous years of practice is really going to pay off this year. I told her we have 4 rules of Skiing... No Crying, have FUN, ski good, and lastly, look good!!! I think Matayia will definitely master these rules this year. Matayia keeps teasing me that by the end of the year she is going to beat me down the hill, and that just may be true!!

Kaitlyn was so excited to go skiing. She had been asking me every day when we were going skiing. But once we got there, trudged through the parking lot with our coats, snow pants, hats, gloves and of coarse our ski boots she was tuckered out. (Greg decided to Alpine ski this time and was reminded how uncomfortable those ski boots are, I think he had some extra sympathy for Kaitlyn) After we got the skis on there was about an hour of good quality, happy skiing. Kaitlyn learned real fast that skiing is harder than she had imagined. But she was a good sport, She went on the rope tow with Greg and she felt so grown up. The tears did start to flow towards the end, but all and all I think we had a pretty good day.

Sound of What?

Yes, my 2 year old loves the Sound of Music. You know, Do a Deer, a female deer. She loves pretty much every song in the movie. She wants to watch it everyday, for some reason she thinks it is called "Me and Why". I am not quite sure where she got that one. I don't know to many 2 year olds who think Julie Andrews is just great, but Kaitlyn surely does. I have been wanting to post this video of Kaitlyn singing her favorite song, so here it is. Move over Maria!!

Did you know?

Every time I go shopping with my friends, I learn something new.

Did you know....


***Walmart will match any advertised price on everything they sell. Just show (or sometimes even tell) them what the "other" store's price is, and the will match it.

***Walmart will also let you shop online and give you the option to ship it to your nearest store for free. When your order is there, they will call you, and then you go and pick it up.

***Toys R Us will price adjust for up to thirty days. Just take your receipt in and they will refund you the difference.

***Gap also price adjusts, they will adjust for 14 days. Once again just take in your receipt and they will refund the difference.

More Favorites

My "Favorite's" would not be complete without my favorite Christmas books. At our house we have a tradition of getting a new Christmas book, for each one of our girls, each year. This is definitely and obsession for me. I read Christmas book after Christmas book looking for the perfect one for Matayia and Kaitlyn. So I do have a few favorites. Right now we are still into Santa, Reindeer, Magical books but as my kids grow older I hope to move into more Christ centered book. But my new favorite book for this year is......



If you haven't seen this book yet I think it is a must have for small children. I came upon it a month or two ago at a craft boutique. For those of you who are not familiar with Usbourne books (I love Usbourne books) they are sold at "in home parties" but I have seen this book at Amazon.com and I know Deseret Book does sell Usbourne Books. (I don't know if they have this one) The book is an advent calender, Each day you add a piece to your nativity from the book, By Christmas you will have a complete Nativity set, I wondered if they would really stand up so I punched some out and tried it out. It worked so well and is really really cute. I decided to not give this book to either of my girls for Christmas but keep it for the whole family to enjoy. I can't wait until December 1st to start setting up our advent nativity.


Some of our other favorites are.....



Who can resist this Christmas Classic, Matayia could listen to it every night!!



This is a "lift the flap" version of the nativity story. (Usbourne again!!)



We love the illustrations in this book, The story is really cute but the pictures are even better.



I just couldn't leave this one off my list of favorites. Maybe it's not the most popular Christmas book, but it is one of my childhood favorites. I have bought both Matayia and Kaitlyn this book. I think the pictures are beautiful and I still enjoy looking at it every year.

My new job....

So on November 1st I started my new job, you would never know but I am one of Santa's top toy researchers. I work at this job around the clock and put in a lot of hours. Some would call this a job, but maybe it is turning into an obsession. You see I walk through all the stores and look at all the toys on the shelves, and I never know which ones to buy, so I take my questions to the Internet.(isn't the Internet great!!) I always want to buy the best and the funnest toys, so I scour the stores and then I come home and read as many reviews as I can find. I just thought that I would share some of the info I have found, since Santa isn't paying me very well this year. (I'm sure he won't mind if I share!!)

Pixo's




I don't know about your kids but mine are begging for these. For those of us that have a good memory we will remember last year there was a product that looked just like this called AquaDots. (they were recalled just before Christmas because they were poisonous if swallowed) Yes, Pixo's are a glorified AquaDots, the manufactures
claim they are safe now. But the reviews say they surely don't work very well. They seem to be safe now, but maybe just a bundle of frustration. I'm not quite sure what to do because my kids sure think they look fun. If you want more info I found the best reviews on Amazon.com, they have both good and bad reviews.


Crayola Glow Station


To tell the truth I am a little confused about this thing but it sure looks cool. since it is a new product I can't find any user reviews but it has won some awards. From what I understand The Crayola Glow Station, an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award winner, lets kids create with the magic of light on a glow-in-the-dark canvas. After you draw on this with the special "light pen" it slowly fades away,(kinda like aquadoodle)letting you make new creations. I don't know if there are any crayola products that I don't like, so it looks like they may have scored again.

The best and the Worst

It seems as though every year I try to find the best toys for my kids and sometimes it seems I win and sometimes it seems I loose. So I thought that I would make a list of the toys we are still playing with and the ones that seem to just gather dust.

5 toys we are still playing with.....







We just love the Aquadoodle, our Magformers, our art easel, our play food and of coarse the leapfrog music table


And our top 5 dust collectors are......







You may of noticed that moon sand was on our list THREE times. Yes it is really that bad. If you are looking for a multi colored sandbox inside your house this is the toy for you. I can't even say that this is collecting dust at our house anymore. During the summer I made my kids play with it outside so it could slowly disapear. And boy was I happy when it did.

The Star Station looked fun but it actually gave the whole family a headache. If you like watching blurry blurry TV this is for you. We could never quite get it focused.

And the Pony House well Matayia just didn't like it as much as I thought she would!

So now I am asking for your help!! If you have read this, consider yourself "TAGGED"
(I don't really know how to do it) Share with me your "BEST" and of coarse your "WORST" toys list. Hopefully this will help me keep my "Top elf" position with Santa.

Ready, Ready, Ready

Where is the snow, because we are ready to go!?!
Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow.

Candy overload

Does anyone know any 6 year old who still has this much Halloween candy left???

Well, Matayia does and the problem is that Kaitlyn does not. Let the fighting begin. Matayia said to me the other day, "I hope it doesn't take me until Christmas to eat all my Halloween candy again" Yes, we finally threw away her Halloween candy away last year in December.

Why do we buy toys???

Kaitlyn has got a new favorite toy, she calls it her Game Boy. And wants to take it everywhere she goes. Sometimes it even doubles as a phone. Last night I went in to tell Kaitlyn Good night, Greg had put her to bed and had let her take her "Game Boy" to bed with her. She was proud to show me she had her "Game Boy" in her bed, she then said in a disapointed voice "Dad turned off my light and now I can't play my Game Boy" I couldn't help but laugh and wonder why we buy our kids toys?!?!?

If you look closely you will see her "Game Boy is a calculator, but please, don't tell her that.

Hair Trauma

For those of you who know me well, you know getting your hair done at our house is not negotiable. Matayia has always been good at this one and has never really fought me, she just knows it has to be done. But Kaitlyn she is another story. She never really wants to get her hair done though we routinely do it everyday. I thought that it was just a phase and she would learn to love getting her hair done but it just hasn't happened yet.


A couple of weeks ago we were getting ready for church, and getting our hair curled like usual. Maybe Kaitlyn was a little wiggly or maybe I was in a hurry, but the result was, her ear got burned. Greg said I have traumatized her for life and I should just layoff on the curling iron. I just can't do it. Every morning when I get Kaitlyn dressed she cries and says "no curling today mom, no curling" the sad thing about it is, she is really scared. She breaks into a sweat and cries when she sees the curling iron. Sorry Kaitlyn mom just can't let you look homeless it makes me crazy, but I am trying every new hairstyle I can think of that doesn't involve "curling."

The benefits of....

This year I am lucky enough to be Matayia's room mom at school.(Well actually a co-room mom, which is even better) The things I love about it are...



I get to actually see the kids she always talks about.....




I get to "check out" and approve the boys she chases at recess....




But what I love most about being Matayia's room mom is seeing her be a crazy little first grader. (not too crazy!!) I love you Matayia, thanks for "wanting" me to be your room mom.