My Future Chef

Notice the flour all over the floor?

Babysitting and Markers

Cole has pretty much been banned from crayons, except for in nursery. He likes to eat them. Yum. It makes for a very colorful diaper the next day. So in my attempt to encourage a future artist I bought Cole his very own washable markers. As you can see that just didn't go over very well. He colored on himself, the kitchen table, his play kitchen, and his coloring book. That was in just a short 15 minute time period. And, no he doesn't have a bloody nose - he was trying to see if the red marker smelled good and stuffed it up his nose. Good thing it wasn't one of those permanent markers that smell good or he might get banned from markers too...

Party in Cole's crib!

These are two little girls I babysit. We trade off here and there so that we can go on dates and to the Temple without having to pay too much. We sure love these girls! This was our attempt at trying to settle them down after 3 hours of dancing, running up and down the hallway, and wrestling. It lasted a whole of 5 minutes before they were dancing again. Oh well, we tried. I think everyone slept well that night.

Happy 3rd Anniversary

"I don't pretend to know what love is for everyone, but I can tell you what it is for me; love is knowing all about someone, and still wanting to be with them more than any other person, love is trusting them enough to tell them everything about yourself, including the things you might be ashamed of, love is feeling comfortable and safe with someone, but still getting weak knees when they walk into a room and smile at you." -Anonymous

Here's to three wonderful years!
May we be this blessed
and in love for the next 100!

Lessons from a Toddler

The other night when we took Cole in to go to bed he asked Bret to turn the lights on, then grabbed his finger and pulled him to the floor, sat down himself, folded his arms, and then looked up at me like "Come on, Mom." When I asked him if he wanted to say prayers he shook his head "yes". I then knelt down next to him, said prayers, in which he kept his arms folded the entire time. After prayers he stood up, grabbed his bottle and blankie, kissed us goodnight and asked to be put into his crib. I almost cried at the innocence of the whole scene. The amazing thing was that Bret and I haven't been that good at teaching him to pray at night as a family - we've only down it once or twice, but he learned from those brief moments that to him family prayer was important. He has asked for us to say prayers every night since.

DKNY Be Delicious

Bret and I went to Salt Lake yesterday afternoon to get out of the house and see a different venue other than Ogden. One stop was at the South Towne Mall. We happened to pass through Macy's perfume section (this is rare because it gives me a HUGE headache) and they had a "What is Your Scent" display set up. It is set up in three section - Fresh, Spicy, and Floral. I don't ever really wear perfume because I just haven't found something that I like, Bret likes and doesn't trigger a headache or my asthma. Well, I finally did. My new favorite (right, there next to Victoria Secrets "Sexy") is DKNY "Be Delicious". It smelled so good on me and didn't give me a headache, and best of all Bret LOVED IT!!! It is a fresh, citric scent and nottoo strong, but not too weak. I love it!

Story Time at the Library

Each Thursday I take Coulson to our local library for "Discovery Time". During the 1/2 hour they choose a topic (today was Big Cats and the letter L) and then they read stories and dance and play games that revolve around that topic. It is quite fun and Cole enjoys playing with the other kids. Now, in situations like this where you have 15-20 kids ranging from 0-3 years of age you find that not everybody is always having a good day or behaving perfectly. Many kids throw temper tantrums, I've see one kid tackle another for taking his "scarf", and so many other things. Cole is notorious for messing up the CD player before I can wade through all the kids to grab him and always steals the giant stuffed bunny that they use for the first song everytime. The first several times we went he pretty much ran amok and wouldn't sit still for any of it but, over time he actually pays a little bit of attention here and there. Most mom's allow their kids to walk around and play a little because, come on, they are 0-3 year olds and the attention span is almost non-exsistant and they are still learning how to play well with others. Now, there is one little family, a mother of three girls that, sadly, in her attempt to make her children "behave" (because really honestly they are already pretty well behaved), she usually creates a HUGE scene because she nitpicks on her poor daughters. I feel bad because I know she is trying to avoid that exact scene but always causes it herself because she can't just let her 3 year old and 2 year just be kids. For example, today the girls chose to sit on the step right next to the 'teacher' to listen to the book. Nothing wrong with that, there were even several other kids doing just that. Well, the mom didn't think they could see so she told them to sit on the floor so they could see. When the girls said they were fine the mom marched over, (because obviously they were not listening to her and therefore misbehaving) standing right in the middle of everything, grabbed both girls, and sat them on the floor. The youngest just wanted to sit next to the teacher and resisted slightly. She then basically knocked her feet out from under her, drops her on her bum and then scolds her when she starts to cry! Sometimes I think that we forget that they are just kids and we need to allow them to be just that. Yes, there is always a time to keep them in check, and sometimes discipline is needed, but most of all we need to allow them to be silly, have fun, and explore the surrounding they are in. There I will now get off my soap box.

Attempts of a wannabe Domestic Goddess

Domestic [duh-meh-tik] -adjective 1. of or pertaining to the home, the household, household affairs, or the family: domestic pleasures.
2.devoted to home life or household affairs. -noun 3.domestics, household items made of cloth, as sheets, towels, and tablecloths.

Goddess [god-is] -noun 1. a female god or deity 2. a woman of extraordinary beauty and charm 3.a greatly admired or adored woman


In an attempt this year to become more like a "domestic goddess" I have decided to hone my skills in certain areas (pretty much all of them-cooking, cleaning, craftiness, childcare...etc) but, for starters I am working on my cooking skills. When it comes to cooking I fall into the categories of 'burned extremely well', 'under cooked' and 'this is okay, but please don't make it again'.(you can rightfully pity my husband because he actually eats everything I make) Other categories like 'done just right', 'mmm, honey this is Divine!' and 'Total Perfection' just don't seem to be within reach. So in order to become a true 'domestic goddess' this must change. Sunday night for the very first time I made a lasagna from scratch! Yes, sad I know. I have been married for 3 years and have never made my poor husband lasagna. What a tragedy. Well, this first time was a close success. It tasted really good but the top layer of cheese was just a little crispy. Hey, we can't all be perfect the first time. How fun would that be? Then feeling somewhat emboldened I decided to bite off a little bigger chunk (no pun intended). So I made BBQ Pork Spareribs. (please, hold the applause till the end). Amazingly, it was a lot easier than I ever though something that tasty and scrumptious could be. (thanks again to my sweet mother-in-law who helped more than patience should have allowed). And, yet again, SUCCESS!!! Maybe, just maybe, I will be listed among with the wives and mothers that actually can cook! I can only dream.

Next skill to hone: craftiness. I will attempt to make Coulson's room into that of a little boys. This will include:

• wall decorations
• making a bedspread
• making fun pillow cases

The journey towards 'domestic goddess' continues...

Like Father, Like Son

Now how cute is that??

Sledding - snow much fun!

The past several days we have received about 2 feet of snow and I hate to see that go to waste! SO we have been playing in the snow quite a bit! On Saturday we met up with some friends and went sledding for an hour or so and had a blast. The on Monday Cole and I went on our own snow trek. Cole couldn't stop laughing as he walked through snow up to his thighs. He just loved it. He also discovered that he LOVES eating snow. I watched him pile it into his mouth and when I asked him how it tasted my reply was "MMMMM!" Too cute. Then yesterday Bret suprised us by coming home early and taking us sledding again! Man, do we love the snow!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

We had a wonderful holiday season! The only bad thing is looking back it seemed to have disappeared into a whirlwind! We drove down to Albuquerque to spend Christmas with my family. That was not my favorite drive but thankfully Cole was an angel for most of the 12 hour trip. *cringe* I think I complained more than he did :) We arrived Friday night late and spent the next two hours trying to wear Cole out since he got a second wind upon arrival. On Saturday the fun began. I stayed home with my mom (this was one of her days off) and Bret and my Dad headed off for the New Mexico Bowl. Jill came over that morning with Xander and he and Cole had a blast. It was pretty fun to see them play. When the men arrived home I heard about all the fun they had and believe me - there was plenty of pictures of the game. Bret even took some pictures with the cheerleaders (which cracked me up). I was glad they had had so much fun. That night we played games and had a fun time. On Sunday we drove out to Keri's ward in Los Lunas to listen to her teach in Relief Society. I'm sure it was an amazing lesson but sadly I didn't get to hear any of it. Cole was having a rough day and didn't want to go to nusery so we spent our time walking the halls. Oh well. We then had dinner at her house that night. Cole - the cook- even helped with dinner prep. He had a blast chasing the kitties also. I'm not sure the cats enjoyed it to much! On Monday Bret, Keri, Dad and myself headed up to Santa Fe for the day. Bret had never been and I wanted him to see it. I love Santa Fe for all its culture, museums, and so much more. It was a great time. We arrived home in time to head over to the Pearce's for dinner. While there we exchanged gifts with each other and allowed the kids to pretty much run amoke together. Tuesday I went to lunch with my dear friend Amanda (who had put up with me for the past gazillion years) and then came home for another night of games. We also went to see the traditional Buggs Lights. Cole loved them and ran around the entire time shouting "Lights, I see!!!" It was pretty cute. Wednesday night we had the missionarys over for dinner and to play chimes. It is a pretty awesome tradition. Afterwards we drove around to see some Christmas lights. Thursday morning was so much fun with opening gifts and spending time with my whole family. Cole made a haul between grandparents and aunts/uncles. Bret also enjoyed all of his gifts especially a church book from my parents. He still can't keep his nose out of it! All in all it was a wonderful Christmas. Thursday night Bret and I stayed with Keri and Cole had a really hard time going to sleep. He didn't fall asleep until almost 1am and then all the adults had to get up at 4:30am for our annual trip to the Bosque Del Apache. It is a bird refuge and we love it! But in order to see all the geese rise from the lake at once ( a truly amazing sight) we have to leave by 5am. Thankfully this year Katy and Lyle decided to stay home and watch Cole for us. (Thanks again!) We had a great time and saw lots of birds, 12 deer, and an elk. We got back in the afternoon and the boys headed off for a movie (they had also played lazertag for 3 hours earlier in the week for more boys time). Saturday I went to visit another friend,Amy, who just had a baby and got to spend a little time with her. We then played more games and had tonz of fun. Sunday came to fast and we left early in the morning for our long drive home. What a great vacation.
New Years we didn't do anything big, but just stayed home and watched movies together. The day after was football and we had Scott over for the day. I hope everyone had a great holiday season and our family hope that this new year will be filled with blessings for everyone!