Manic Monday

Craig and Merry are back in town..We love getting to know Merry. The girls were so excited to get home and meet her. So excited in fact that after all the jumping, giggling, and talking, they didn't fall asleep until after ten o'clock last night!

this morning they were equally excited and Its been really fun having them both here.
We've had a great Morning chatting and playing with the kids.
Ang Jumped back into the workforce and has Orientation all week. Taylor and I agreed to watch the girls for her. Including this one..

Ms Distructo (aka Olivia) has already broken one of my planters.... but all she has to do is look at me with those brown eyes and I have to forgive her...
The house is a mess, but we aren't cleaning it till Saturday ..

so the other great thing is Merry does hair! Yeah for me because we are ALL in desperate need of some help in that area!
She so Generously gave Mattie and Me haircuts this morning and is going to hit the girls up tonight...
just look how grown up my baby boy looks!

Mine looks and feels great but its a little harder to get a picture of........

Blogging: computer required.

So Having my brother in town has been great don’t get me wrong, but I have just one thing to say to him..
“GIVE ME BACK MY LAPTOP!”
He’s a total computer hog! I mean really, I think I’ve had it an entire 15 minutes in the last week and a half! He even wrote half of the two posts I made! (Hence the “beautiful wife Merry” part)
What a bum!

Okay, so I really have enjoyed having Craig here. It has been years since we’ve been able to sit and talk like we have this week. Having him here has really instilled my beliefs in the importance of family support and of spending time with the people that are important to me (like, My family!)
It thrills me even more that he and his wife have decided to move here from Washington! He’s already gotten himself a job (yes in the first week he’s been here!!) and has already looked at places for them to live. I’m seriously impressed by his initiative and drive to support his family and to get things done. He and I have a lot in common that way. It is really awesome to watch. I’m hoping that a little of that might be inspiration to my own dear loving husband….


Christmas aftermath…
Ali has already broken her ipod earphones and LOVES singing in her microphone;

Megan has already broken her crystal Cinderella carriage Grandma bought her

, and LOVES her Next Generation doll. They have both gone through every one of their new outfits (and yes in only two days), and exhausted themselves to sleep by 9 O’clock last night.

I finally saw Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and The latest Harry potter!
We’re still in love with this

(thanks to grandma) its really quite cute! and fits perfectly in Matties Tonka truck!!
And Megan's talking My little pony keeps going off all by itself……. Spooky!
I played Mancala with Ang all day yesterday………
And my brother got one of These and Its really fun to play… Although I still don’t want one in my house….(cuz, I DESPIZE video games!!!!)

oh, and I'm thinking about doing this.........
Well, My time is limited so I must go.. But I’ll try my best to post some more this weekend

More Christmas

The Girls are home!!!!! hooray! We've missed them SO much. After many hugs and kisses, we dove right into the presents. They were thrilled with their gifts and just look at this mess!

Aunt Merry and Uncle Craig got the girls dress up tutu's with hair pieces. Megan wasted No time going from one gift to the next

Ali is such a rockstar with her new Ipod shuffle and her microphone and speaker White Christmas in Utah and home made snowflakes (rubber cemented to the window!) (that was from Craig)

We spent the evening at my parents house opening loads of presents and eating the best Turkey dinner I've had in a LOoonng time!

the girls are still over there finishing up a game of "life" with Craig and Steph.

(Taylor and I brought Mattie home to put his tired butt to bed)

The girls were so Happy to be home, and this has been an absolutely wonderful Christmas!

Here's' just one more of Ali belting it out on her microphone at my parents house.

This is one of the many outfits 'Aunt Stephanie' bought her

from "Justice for girls"

Merry Christmas

My brother Craig and his beautiful wife Merry gave Mattie a sit and spin.

Taylor's been waiting MONTHS to give him this big Tonka truck.

And Mattie also got this great Car rug to play with his "Gucks" on.

The girls get home in approximately 60 minutes, and I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!

Hope you're having a very Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread houses

We Made our Annual gingerbread house.
I always take the easy route and buy a kit. Call me lazy, I say Save me the stress!
Craig helped too. It was a great mess of fun!

and the little one said "roll over, I'm crowded"

This is what I woke up to this morning.. We have a King size bed, but my side of the bed apparently has child repellent because they were both crowded in on Taylors side (lucky me). I had to get a picture of them all snuggled in together. I tried not to wake them up with my camera, but Taylor heard the click. He took that opportunity to sneak out and sleep on the couch for the last few hours.

We're sure going to miss these little bed hogs while they're gone!

Ali's been staying up deep into the night. Its going to be a fun battle when school bedtime arrives next month.

she's such a night owl. I'm SO not.

Megan still falls asleep where ever she is, if she's tired.. Taylor actually carried her up to her bed last night after she fell asleep with a laundry basket over her body obviously in the midst of playing something.

she must have woken up to a lonely bed and found ours in the middle of the night.

Summer time is so inconsistent around here. It’s hard to keep a routine when they spend half the summer at Ex's mom's house. Like I’ve said, I try to plan activities and fun things while we have them, but having the Van die on us really took a toll on the event planning.
We did take the kids to the pool a couple times, and they’ve spent quite a few afternoons at my parents house playing in the neighborhood, but otherwise, its just been time hanging at the house. Why does that make me feel guilty? Summer doesn’t need to be filled with activities right?
I did manage to plan a scavenger hunt for them the other day.. It was definitely a hit. In fact, Megan asked me to do another one for her yesterday. And we did have “art” day. Which has left my back patio, and my kitchen tablecloth covered in paint. And I did do the fort………... So there, we have had fun. I’m a good mom after all!
On a different note
Meg has become quite whiney lately. She started after the last long visit at Ex's, and hasn’t stopped. After this next two week visit there, I'm sure I'm in for a treat. Hopefully we'll be able to undo the habit when things become more constant.

Oh and I just have to mention that I am SO excited for my brother. He called a few days ago to tell me that he is getting married! Yeah, he so deserves it. He is the best dad and His ex wife was not very nice. The best news of all is that he’s gone from a total atheist to finding Christ, and going to church. That’s just a miracle in my eyes. God works in mysterious ways. He sounds so much calmer, and happy than I’ve heard him sound in years. God’s got a plan for my brother I know that, and I’m so excited for him. I can’t wait to meet his new wife someday soon too. I wish he didn’t live so dang far away!
Love you Craig.

Well I’m off to clean the house for the 100th time this week. We’ve got lots of friends coming over today to play and I would hate for them to trip over our mess.

So sorry this is rambling, but I thought I’d write a few things down (for myself more than anyone) and this was the place to do it.
Have a great day!