Across the Universe

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

2009-11-12T18:09:00.000-08:00

I can't wait to eat wonderful things and feel thankful for all that I have been given. I'm counting down the days.

Ooooh!

2009-06-27T09:08:00.000-07:00

One of Isla's favorite faces.

And another one.

Esmé and Sophia watched a few shows while were at the hospital. They took turns holding Isla for about 2-30 seconds at a time.

All of us at the hospital.

Isla Vivienne Smith

2009-06-15T18:49:00.000-07:00

Today at 10:38 am Isla Vivienne Smith was born! (1 day early)

8 lbs even! Look at those chubby cheeks!

Some of us were curious.

Some of us were relieved.

But we all were excited.

And we still are.
Happy Birthday Isla!

Easter 2009 Eggstravaganza

2009-05-19T11:54:00.000-07:00

I am a little late getting the Easter pictures onto the blog, but I wanted to put them on here for my sister Kristen who lives in Lawerence, KS. (She likes to see the festivities.) Easter this year did not go as well as last year. Last year we had a nice brunch, easter egg hunt and easter crafts with the extended family at my cousin Kate's house. This year we did much of the same thing, but despite my best effort in planning--the only people who showed up with food were the two pregnant women. Brittany and myself. We had the whole extended family to feed--mainly men--and close to nothing to eat. Brittany brought a nice salad and I made chicken salad and brought croissants. My Uncle Wayne showed up with a pie which no one ate, and my mom brought a cake which also went mostly untouched. Last year we had all sorts of good eats--this year was kind of sad...and hungry.
The above picture is of the Easter egg hunt. Most of the kids targeted the lower end of the yard.

This year Esmé had a good strategy, while all the other kids were in the lower yard looking for eggs she was all by herself in the upper part of the yard. She made out like a bandit! She collected twice as many eggs as the rest of the kids. Go Es!

Here are the girls showing their Easter egg spoils. Good Hunting!

Here are the ladies of the family--and Lincoln. Not pictured: Kristen, Jenni, Cindy and Stacey. Stacey and Paul showed up late--also without food. (Alex was also missing due to having surgery the previous afternoon.)

Here we are upstairs at Kate's house doing our Easter crafts. We colored some Easter puzzles and decorated some foam Easter eggs. It is interesting to see how much the kids have grown up in just a year. Last year when we did the Easter crafts, we were only able to do one. This year all the kids even--Lincoln and Mya sat and colored for quite a while. It was really quiet and relaxing. Thanks to Brittany, Katie, and Uncle Wayne for the extra help coordinating the crafts with the kids. Thanks to Kate for letting us come to her house for another holiday.

Here we are at home decorating eggs. This was the first year we did this with the girls. After we got started with the dye--the girls got really into it and could have dyed all sorts of random things around the house if we had let them.

The girls were really careful with the egg dye, we only had one spill. It was interesting to see which of the colors each of them chose. *Note both girls are starting to develop their own sense of fashion. I think we posted about this in one of our earlier blogs. I don't know how she does it, but Sophia always manages to pick out the worst shirts in her wardrobe, latch onto them and want to wear them everyday. (Above is a shirt I would happily donate, throw away or even burn.)

Here we are looking for Easter baskets on Easter Sunday. Yes, the house is cluttery--this was when we had just started packing to move.

Sophia is enjoying what the Easter bunny brought her. New pj's, a puzzle and some treats.

Here are the gals in their Easter dresses taken as we were running late for church. The actual dresses are a light yellow, they were a nice break from the usual pink or purple. I get mocked for the hairbows--but I still don't think that you can get much cuter than a little girl with an oversized hairbow....Happy Belated Easter! Can't wait for next year, maybe more people will show up with food. :)

The New Star Trek...

2009-05-09T15:06:00.000-07:00

We saw the new Star Trek last nigh with our good friends Jen and Mark. Alex and I are sci fi nerds and we were totally jazzed about it. I think I was more excited about it than he was--I think I have seen all of the Star Trek The Next Generation episodes. In any case, we love the show LOST and couldn't wait to see how JJ Abrams retooled Star Trek. It was very well done and the new Captain James T. Kirk...well he is a total dream boat.

I Passed!

2009-05-01T16:56:00.000-07:00

After a grueling year, I am pleased to announce that this year I defended my thesis and got it finalized for release, passed my praxis exam and my doctoral prelim exam. What does all this mean? It means I now have my Master's degree and if I want I can do my dissertation and get my Ph.D.

I took my prelim exam this past Monday and Wednesday. It was an all day written exam with 6 essays--the contents were from over 200 journal articles--I had to study all year. Then on Wednesday I had my oral exam with the five faculty of the School Psychology department. They asked me questions from any of the journal articles and I had to know authors and details of the studies. I had no idea what they were going to ask and it was really intimidating. At any rate--it is over now.

Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In other great news, I have been offered a part-time salaried position as a School Psychologist with the Salt Lake City School District. I am no longer an intern, although I still have to have supervision from a licensed psychologist.

Hip Hip Hurray!! (Just in time to have another baby.)

It is a nice feeling to know that if I feel like finishing my doctorate I can, if not I don't have to. Thanks to everyone who has supported me through this process; I could not have done it without your encouragement, helped with Esmé and Sophia etc.

A special thanks to Alex, who is in the running for best husband ever. Not only did he edit my thesis several times, he helped with the stats analysis, coded surveys and watch the girls for long hours at a time while I studied. (Not to mention helped to clean the house.) What a guy.

What is up with the @#$%*$ weather?

2009-04-15T16:05:00.000-07:00

In case any of you Utah folks missed the freak snow storm today I have tried to capture it for you. It has been raining on and off for the past week, which is to be expected because it's April. However, there have been a few technical issues with the weather which have made me want to curse the heavens and say, "Really? Seriously? Are you kidding me?"

I want it to dry up for a few reasons.

1. My windshield wiper on the drivers side stopped working yesterday evening in the middle of a pretty intense rainstorm during which I had to drive back to SLC from Orem at around 8:30 pm. Very dark and very wet. I was white knuckling it the whole way home. It was terrifying. When we were just outside of American Fork and Lehi there were these huge puddles and I couldn't see the road at all. I couldn't clear the windshield at all.

You can kind of see in the above picture that the driverside wiper is trying to move but it won't go past that point and it only does that very sporadically. Things you take for granted like windshield wipers in a rainstorm. I am so thankful we got home ok.

2. Our roof is leaking near the chimey above the kitchen. Water damage is never good, but it is especially frustrating not to be able to fix the problem because it won't stop raining.

3. Packing up our house has become very troublesome too. Because we have no place to put our empty boxes we have been keeping them out on the covered back porch, because of the intense and lasting rain many of them are now ruined. Boxes are valuable when you are moving! Also, I am ready to pack up the girls winter clothes, instead one day it is warm and the next it is freezing. I am making very little packing progress because of these issues.

4. Esmé and Sophia have turned into big, fat couch potatoes because it is so yucky outside. I'm completely to blame for this because they were sick, then it was spring break and now they think that television is the only possible way to pass the time. It's a sad situation. Usually, I dread the spring because of my allergies. But it is officially time for winter to end.

A complaint about multiple baby showers

2009-04-15T12:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening the girls and I went to a baby shower for one of my relatives who already has one child and is now expecting another, except this time it is a girl. I love this relative of mine so I didn't mind driving all the way down to Orem to support her. However, I do have this one complaint. Since when did it become customary to have multiple baby showers? She already has all the baby necessities--all she really needs is clothes and diapers. So what's the point? If she is buying clothes for one child already can't she buy for two? Just seems a little excessive...no matter how much we like the moms.

St. Patty's Day (Will the new baby girl look Irish too?)

2009-03-29T17:47:00.001-07:00

We have celebrated St. Patrick's Day since we moved to the Denver Street house four years ago. Mostly because our neighbor Maybell is Scottish and hosts a party every year. (She says that being Scottish is close enough to being Irish--close enough to have a party anyway.) Many people think we have Irish heritage because of the girls hair. (Truthfully, I am mostly Scandinavian and Alex has some of everything in his background--including Danish and English.) Together we make Irish looking kids--the girls look especially Irish in green.

Here are the dancing Leprechauns after preschool on St. Patrick's Day. Challenger had a Leprechaun come an mess up their classroom and leave them treats. After that the girls thought that the Leprechaun would come and mess up our house too. (Thank you Challenger for making parents responsible for celebrating yet another holiday.) I told the girls that the Leprechauns only came to some houses and schools--they are tricky like that. (But they still kept looking for signs of the Leprechaun all day.)

Ridin' a Rhino and Seein' Siberian Lynxes

2009-03-29T17:31:00.000-07:00

Another day at the zoo--we are trying to get in as many days as we can before we move away from it. It was a really warm day in March, we had just past the Elephants and Rhinos and Sophie said she wanted to ride one. I said that would be fun, but what about their sharp hornlike tusks? I had forgotten that there was a statue of one just down the hill. So we decided to ride the Rhino.

That same day we saw not one, but three Siberian Lynxes (Alex said that this was plural for Lynx). This was a really exciting thing for me because we have NEVER seen them! I was beginning to think that the exhibit was a ruse and that their were no Siberian Lynxes. But low and behold, at exactly 5:07 pm--three of them emerged from their den and were looking to the south. I think they were waiting for the zoo keeper to feed them. Did you know that Siberian Lynx have really short stubby tails and really pointy black tipped ears? These might be my favorite of the big cat family--besides the Amur Leopards. I think they are from Siberia too.

Spring Cleaning

2009-03-29T17:13:00.000-07:00

Due to my somewhat cumbersome pregnant state cleaning the bathtub has become a real drag. I tried to delegate it to Alex, but he refused by pretending not to hear me as I complained about the dirty tub and asked him if he could clean it. Then I got to thinking about the early 1900s when people had children for the purpose of helping to support the family (this was before the child labor laws). So I suggested that the girls get their swimsuits on and help me to clean the bathtub. It went so well that I am now thinking of other chores to have them help me with.

Esmé really got into it. She loves the water and being in her swimsuit. The bathtub was sparkling clean after we were finished--and no one even slipped and fell and cracked their head. These girls are just as good as the mice Cinderella had.

I have to add that Alex did clean the tub last week--he did a great job too. What a great husband.

March Snow

2009-03-29T16:40:00.000-07:00

Today it snowed alot and it occurred to us that we hadn't built any snowmen this year. So we made some smallish snowmen with the snow we had.

I know they were small, but it was fun and it was about all Esmé and Sophia could take. Any longer and they would have gone inside anyway. FYI, Sophia is not wearing gloves because she lost one at Costco and 2 other sets randomly. They've both learned alot about putting their own clothes on this year. As a result, Sophia wouldn't leave the house in the winter without gloves (until they were all lost).

Victorian Princesses

2009-03-05T18:40:00.001-08:00

If only they were this demure all the time. Who wouldn't want to take them home and play with them? But then after a few minutes the red headedness kicks in.

My cousin Katie surprised me with some beautiful pictures of the girls for my birthday. What a great gift. Here are a couple of the shots she took. The bottom picture totally captures the girls doing what they do best...

Guilty Pleasures

2009-03-02T17:09:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't know, among my guilty pleasures is an obsession with vampires. It started when I was thirteen. Instead of some fluffy vampire piece like Twilight, I was initiated by Bram Stokers Dracula. Over the years I have watched many vampire movies, some good some bad and read many vampire novels. Until now, my favorite has been Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. My twin sister, Kristen introduced me to the Sookie Stackhouse series when I was out in Kansas this winter--Yea! It has just the right amount of raciness and intrigue that a good vampire novel should have.

The newest edition comes out in May 2009 and I am waiting with bated breath.

Picking Out Our Own Clothes

2009-01-16T16:02:00.000-08:00

Today I let Esmé and Sophia pick out there own clothes since there was no school. This is what we ended up with. It's so funny, they both have their own little fashion sense. This orange shirt is Sophia's 'handsome' shirt. I have no idea where she found that cap, but she's really taking a liking to it.

As usual Esmé is a skirt gal, but since it's cold, she'll put it on over her pants. And, of course, pigtails. Pigtails have been very popular lately.

Random San Francisco Pics

2008-11-16T17:55:00.000-08:00

We're finally getting around to posting pics from our trip to San Francisco. A little late we know, but what are you gonna do? We went to the Farmer's Market, got some local bread and 'artisan' cheese and had a snack on the pier. Sarah's fresh fruit pastry was to die for and Alex was super annoyed with all the pigeons (center of the picture).

We stopped off at Ghiradhelli Square for a 'World Famous' hot fudge sundae and to get some chocolate. The sundae was even better then it looked. Also, every day that we were in SF, we purchased cupcakes for dessert at Miette and Citizen Cupcake. Citizen Cupcake was on top of the Virgin music store, so that wasn't a hard decision. We still talk about those cupcakes as if they were our own.

Here we are in our spacious room at the San Francisco Hilton - Financial District. It treated us very well, but the pool closed at 9:30pm and we never got home in time to go.

Alex would not rest until we had 'authentic' dim sum at some dive in Chinatown. The bbq pork buns were amazing, but the local Chinese population in the store didn't seem to appreciate our visit. They kept giving us dirty looks.

We went to the Botanical Gardens in Golden Gate Park. Sarah wanted me to mention that the humidity didn't 'work' with her hair the whole time we were there. The Botanical Gardens didn't help since it felt like it was 271 degrees in there. Golden Gate Park was huge and the Outlands Festival (Radiohead, Beck, The Black Keys, etc) was going on that evening, but we didn't make it. But we did spend a great deal of time at Amoeba music store (the best music store either of us have ever encountered), so it kind of worked out. (Sarah got the Top Gun DVD. She hasn't lost that lovin feeling yet, even though it's been a few decades.)

Of course we went to the Golden Gate Bridge. Of course it was foggy/cloudy. We took the bus there and on the way some French tourists were concerned that they were headed in the wrong direction, so the tried to ask the bus driver, but couldn't quite say much more than 'we go Golden Gate?' Finally the bus driver just said, 'Just hold on! I take you there. Just hold on!'

We went to Fisherman's Wharf and to the SF Aquarium. It was pretty cool and we got some SF clam chowder in a sourdough breadbowl. Obviously, most of what we did centered around food, but that's how we roll.

Here we are on the streetcar. We only took it once because it was so busy, the rest of the time we took the bus or regular train. When we were in line for the streetcar, the streetcar stopped at the back of the line, but no one from the front got on. We waited and waited and then finally boarded. After that these angry Italian tourists from the front of the line came and complained to the driver that it was their turn, and that we took their spot. The driver told them that if he wanted us off, to talk to us, but they just left in a huff. We weren't about to get off. All in all, we had a great time.

Sophia's First Haircut

2008-11-15T14:28:00.000-08:00

Today we headed over to the Great Clips on 9th and 9th for Sophia's first haircut.

She was pretty nervous, but she did very well. We took her for a trim because her hair was starting to get fairly unruly and she hates having ponytails, so her hair is always in her face.

Esmé's not ready for her first haircut yet, but she was a good sport and spun me around in an empty chair while we waited for Sophia. She had a great time watching Sophia's hair fall on the ground.

This is Sophia's 'stoic' look. She's not necessarily having a great time, but she can handle it.

All done! The haircut went very well. Good job Sophie!

Roll Call

2008-10-11T11:17:00.000-07:00

Left to Right: Singing Giraffe, Hoot, Phyllis, Happy Feet, Sirius White, Bear-Bear aka Honey, Esmé, Molasses, Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Timmy, Talking Bird, Singing Bear, Bobo, Sophia, Mrs. Twinklebottom, Crindy, Cream of Wheat, Bamboo, Bambi, Jack White, Bearemy, not pictured: Brown Sugar (presumed lost).

As stuffed animals are taking over our home and lives, we thought we would chronicle the animals who have been named. There are many unnamed animals, but for whatever reason, these are the animals who have been favorites at one point or another or have been around long enough to get a name. We look forward to many more adventures with our stuffed friends.

Update: Brown Sugar has been found.

What fantasy worlds will you be following this Fall?

2008-09-15T16:00:00.000-07:00

The Oregon Coast, Or A Windy, Somewhat Chilly Day At the Beach

2008-09-08T20:50:00.000-07:00

While we were in Oregon visiting my family, we took a day trip to the coast for the girls first view of the ocean. We went to our usual spot in Bandon and stayed in our little cove away from the wind when we weren't frolicking in the waves or extreme kite-flying.

Sarah and Sophia heading down to wade in the water.

Being somewhat chilly, Esmé commandeered a huge Death Valley hoodie (it sure was warm).

Sophie and Grandma Candy chillin in our little cove away from the wind.

Esmé and Sophia thought the water was pretty cold, but Erica, Audrey, Garrett didn't. They got all the way in (something I haven't done in like 12 years).

It took Sophia a while to get used to the cold water, but she eventually got excited about running away from the waves.

Sarah enjoyed her time at the beach, although she didn't stay in the water in long as the gals. Sarah and my mom took great advantage of the windless cove and had salt water taffy and chillaxed.

Esmé went straight for the water when we arrived and never looked back.

Garrett showed the gals how to make sandcastles and climb sand dunes.

All in all a very fun day at the beach.

Arts and Crafts Pre-K Summer Fun

2008-09-08T18:20:00.000-07:00

Auntie Lindsay took the girls to the Tracy Aviary when she was babysitting one day during the summer. They made pinecone birdfeeders with peanut butter and birdseed. We have had a lot more birds in the yard since we put them up. The girls are lucky to have such a wonderful, fashionable, caring aunt in their lives. Lindsay has been one of my greatest supports and friends since the girls were born. She even slept on the couch the whole summer when the girls were born to help me. We all love her so much--Thanks Auntie Lindsay!

Garden stones. This was a fabulous activity one hot summer day in July. I bought some extra glass marbles to add to the plaster to give them a little more sparkle.

For a finishing touch we added glitter--Esmé chose gold and Sophie chose blue. These may be the cutest kitchy garden decor ever! I was really happy with how they turned out. Here the girls are very involved with putting the marbles in.

You may recognize the girls one friend from their birthday party--Eve. Here we are decorating tamborines when Eve came over for a play date. I oculdn't ask for a better playmate for the girls--they are all of a similar temperament and they play really well together.

Here is one of the finished tamborines.

I found these bags at the craft store and decided that it would be fun to iron the girls names on them.

Esmé may be assigned ironing as a chore when she gets older.

The girls loved the bags more than I anticipated and use them as their "quiet" bags for church. It is way better than carrying around a big bulky bag with entertainment and snacks. They turned out cuter than I anticipated and the girls love having the responsibility of carrying their own bags.

Pizza Sunday

2008-09-08T18:16:00.001-07:00

Just had to show our delicious homemade pizzas we made this sunday.
Yumm-o!

Not to the circus! Not to the pool! We are going to Challenger School!

2008-09-03T11:17:00.001-07:00

The girls started preschool this year, yea! They are going to Millcreek preschool on Monday/Wednesday mornings and to Challenger preschool on Tuesday/Thursday mornings. This is an exciting time for all of us. The girls have been going to Challenger for about 2 weeks now and they love it! I was getting to the point where I could not entertain them or keep them adequately stimulated, so school is a welcome relief for all of us. They will be starting Millcreek next week, I hope they enjoy that too. I still have my Challenger bag, this is a picture of the girls with theirs. (The blue spots on their faces are stickers.)

Hi! My name is . . .

2008-08-26T22:35:00.000-07:00

Lately, Esmé and Sophia have been pretending that they are other people, characters, objects, beverages, etc. They always start out with, for example, "roar . . . My name is Li the Lion," or "My name is Ariel. I'm a princess," or "I'm a bladudidoo. My name wageldiblabli." Yesterday, when we were coming back from the store, Sophia and Esmé raced to the door and waited for me to unlock it. Esmé was a little cranky at the time and so when Sophia got there first (much to Sophia's delight) Esmé yelled at her "My name is Don't Smile at Me!" I tried to tell her to be nice, but I couldn't help it, I just burst out laughing, which, I think, actually helped the situation.

Banana Chocolate Blend Disaster

2008-08-20T12:06:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, I frequent Starbucks on a fairly regular basis. They recently built one at our local Smith's Marketplace. Yea! The girls like the chocolate milk and I like the hot cocoa. Because we can't go anywhere without being stopped, we make friends with cashiers and storeworkers fairly easily. (The girls can really turn on the charm.) One of our recent acquaintences/friends is a woman named Marie who works at the new Smith's Marketplace Starbucks. She thinks the girls are fabulous and often gives us free cookies (which the girls don't really like) and the other day she gave us a whole handful of coupons for Starbucks new drink line: The Orange Mango Viviano and Banana Chocolate Viviano. Great! Free Drinks!
I don't like banana's but who doesn't like a wannabe chocolate shake, I asked myself? The girls will most definately drink this drink. Wrong!!!!

Today I used two of the free coupons for the Banana Chocolate Viviano which is a "freshly prepared drink with a whole banana, bittersweet cocoa, 2% milk, whey protein, fiber powder, and ice". Sounds good right? Well, it's not. It has potential, but it was simply not as sweet as the chocolate milk the girls have gotten too accustomed to drinking. We had a viviano revolt--Sophie was the worst. She refused to drink hers and promptly suggested that we turn around and for the chocolate milk. Tears were shed. In order to show her that it was really tasty and she really would like it, I had to drink several sips. I thought I was going to throw up in my mouth. It was all I could do not to gag! Luke warm with banana! How could this get any worse? After a few more sips Esmé proclaimed, "I tried it and I like it!" (Good for you Es! Most of us with better developed taste buds wouldn't feel quite the same way.)

The worst part of this drink debacle was that the lids of the drink we not secure! Three year olds with chocolate banana vivianos with unsturdy lids? D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R! We made it most of the way home with the drink lids still on, but by the time we reached 9th South...Sophie's little voice said, "Mom, I spilled a little bit." "Uh Oh." "How bad is it?" (Not terrible, but not great--just an outfit change--no harm done to the car.) Esmé made it all the way home without the lid coming off. I pulled into the driveway and jumped out of the car and put the "viviyucko" into the drink holder on her door. Mistake! As I was cleaning Sophie up, Esmé kicked her banana chocolate blend out on the driveway. Most normal drinks with sturdy lids would have survived the short fall without any problem--but not this shody product. So, Marie, thanks but no thanks on the new free Viviano drinks. Anyone want our extra coupons?

Heber Creeper

2008-08-18T20:04:00.000-07:00

Just another day at the Heber Valley Railroad, complete with train whistles.

Ever the adventurer and haver of fun, my mom had a great idea to take a train ride with the girls one Friday afternoon this summer. The original thought was to take the Heber Creeper train ride and then float down the Provo River through scenic Provo Canyon. But due to the cost and the length of time for the train ride, we decided to take a shorter ride up to Soldier Hollow through scenic Heber. When we got to Soldier Hollow, the train had to switch tracks. On the way back we moved to one of the inside cars and kept a little cooler.

As you can see by Esmé's hair, it was a hot day in a train thatwas built before the days of air conditioning. The water behind Es is a little lake between Midway and Heber. Look how blue her eys look with the shirt and the water. I love the hair too.
Sophie enjoyed the trip. I brought their "pooh blankets" as the train ride was during naptime and wanted to minimize any problems due to tiredness. Of course with Sophie, if the blanket is anywhere within eyesight she wants to cuddle up with it. The train trip was one of the hottest days of the year in July and there was Sophie sweating with her "pooh bear blankee."

Above are the railroaders: Es, Me, Sophia and my mom "Manga."

Here is a picture of our train. In order to get to Soldier Hollow, the train drove through Heber. What we did not know was how many roads the train would have to cross along the way. Of course every time we crossed a road, the train had to blow the horn. It was insanely loud and the girls were scared of it because the only shady place left on the train was right up by the front engine.

But there was a perk to being so close to the engine. We were right next to the concession area! The girls were eyeing the M & M's and after having a few, the loud horn didn't seem like quite as big of a deal.

Here are the gals enjoying their train ride. Life is such an adventure when you are three! (Of course it doesn't take a lot to please me either.) Thanks for a great day Mom!

"The Friends"

2008-08-18T19:51:00.000-07:00

My mom suprized me with some of the cutest pictures of the girls. For whatever reason, the salmon color of their shirts brings out the red in their hair and just looks so cute. Here they are just being silly together. It is rare that we get a good "natural" smile from Es. The girls had been bickering a lot recently, I think it is part of their age development and being three years old. Sometimes they surprise me with how well they play together. It gives me hope that they will have as good of a relationship as I do with my twin sister, Kristen.

Fourth of July

2008-07-29T10:02:00.000-07:00

We had a pretty tame fourth of July this year. It started out with a terrific brunch with Sarah's side of the family in Pleasant Grove. We had french toast, fruit, bacon, hashbrowns and buttermilk syrup. It was really yummy. Here are all the cousin's except Lincoln and Kristen and Ryan's coming addition.

We also went to the movies. Alex and my mom saw Hancock and the girls and I saw Wall e. I really liked Wall e and thought it had a nice environmentalist message without being too heavy handed. Following the movies we had the girls first backyard firework show. They enjoyed it. Alex seemed to enjoy lighting them off too. Jenni enjoyed the firework show too, but was also concerned that the yard would light on fire, so she became the fire marshall of the evening. She made sure to douse the yard with the hose between fireworks. We were pleased that Dave's wife, Cindi who was in town finishing some classes this summer was able to join the show a little later.

Off to see the Wizard

2008-07-12T19:12:00.000-07:00

Engrossed in unwrapping presents from Lawrence, Kansas.

Well, this looks quite nice, I love the blue sparkles. I am not quite sure who Dorothy Gail is...but I know I am going to love this dress!

Wooooh! Red high heel slippers, they are gonna be so special on me.

Wait a minute, I think I might like to wear those.

Check out the sparkly evening gown version of Dorothy.
Thanks Aunt Kiki and Uncle Ryan! We love the Dorothy outfit and the ruby slippers are fabulous!

Day 1096 of Surviving Twins

2008-07-07T20:05:00.000-07:00

Lately, the girls have been taking a pretty hard afternoon nap. I usually have to go and wake them up after a couple of hours. As I approached their bedroom at the normal time, I did not suspect anything out of the ordinary. The room was quiet. I walked into possibly the biggest mess I have ever encountered. Esmé had gotten into the cream and spread it all over her legs, quilt, sheet, stuffed animals and Sophie. The white cream is not very water soluble and due to the extent it had been caked on her and everything she touched--it was a real chore to clean up.

To top it all off, Sophie had had an accident in her underwear. (Which was most likely why they were up getting into mischief, unbeknownst to me.) I put them in the tub and had to turn on the shower to get the cream out of Sophia's curly locks. I am frustrated with myself for not putting that cream up higher or throwing it away since we never use it.

Update: 9:24 pm. I just walked into the girls room again because someone was crying because of fireworks. Esmé had found the A and D ointment and greased up her hands. Looks like the both of us will need to review what the purpose of cream is and where to store it.

C'mon new bike!

2008-07-07T19:55:00.001-07:00

One of the most exciting things we have done this summer is to get a bike and trailer for the girls and me. (We are still working on getting a bike for Alex.) I wanted a cruiser bike, and I ended up with one that looks almost exactly like the one my sister Kristen had when we were kids. I was so jealous of that bike! Needless to say, with the rising gas prices it is nice to have an alternative form of transportation. We rode about 3 miles around the park today, the girls have enjoyed riding in the trailer thus far. I hope they continue to like it because they are pretty squished together in there.

3 years ago today . . .

2008-07-06T21:45:00.000-07:00

We went for a car ride three years ago and things were never the same.

"And they all played games at the ladybug picnic..."

2008-07-06T21:04:00.000-07:00

This year for the girls birthday I decided to have a ladybug picnic. I got the bright idea from the girls favorite show, Sesame Street. Alex and I remembered the catchy little tune immediately when it came on from when we were kids. I sing it so much that the girls have learned the tune.

We held the party at Liberty Park in the Tracy Aviary. Alex had a brilliant idea to get a really big sandwich. He was sooooo excited about it. At three feet long, it was only a little bit smaller than Homer's sub sandwich that he ate for a few months. Here we are eating the most delicious turkey sandwich, chips, veggies and dip and grapes. Esmé and Sophia's cousin Olivia is on the end, followed by Sophie, their little friend from church, Eve, and Esmé. (Oh, and Alex.)

Here are a couple of shots opening presents. It was pretty chaotic. We loved all the gifts--thank you everyone! Eve and Olivia were also very eager to open presents--and helped by opening about a third of them.

Here is Sophia and her new soccer ball. (Under the table.) The girls also recieved a Strawberry Shortcake baseball and bat, which Alex has been teaching them to use.

Ok. So this is not in chronological order, but we wanted to show the ladybug cake. After spending at least an hour looking online for bakery's that make birthday cakes. I ended up using our old standby bakery-the Lehi Country Bakery. (They also make fabulous square doughnuts.) We had wanted a cake shaped like a ladybug--because we have recently been watching a show on the Food Network called "Ace of Cakes." The folks on the show make the most amazing cakes.

Sarah was also concerned about the taste of the cake. She is picky about grocery store cakes.

The cake we got was cute, and was also tulicious.

And they did all play games at the ladybug picnic. This game is pin the spot on the ladybug. All the kids pinned their spots in the same place so the ladybug had one big mutant spot. I guess it didn't really matter that they weren't blindfolded.

Here are the small partygoers: Eve, Olivia, Esmé, Sophia, Lincoln. The grownups were Karen, Lindsay, Jenni, Cindi, Adam, Brittany, Sarah and Alex.

As the plans for the party were coming together I found these little stuffed ladybugs at the dollar store, along with red butterfly nets. We hid the stuffed ladybugs and the girls went on a ladybug hunt. The girls have been carrying their ladybugs around and sleeping with them. They even brought them to church today. They have been a big hit. All in all it was a really fun birthday.

Power Ballads

2008-06-19T20:26:00.000-07:00

Pat Benatar Sang the Power Ballads

Alex recieved alot of itunes money for father's day and he has been kind enough to indulge me on my quest to create a power ballads mix--mainly of the 80's genre. This is a carryover from my mother and from my sister, Kristen we love a good power ballad. ("Total Eclipse of the Heart," anyone?) Just the thought of a roadtrip with the power ballads playing in the background and Alex itching to change it, makes me a little giddy.

Currently, I have the following artists in mind but am open to suggestions...

Pat Benetar-"Love is a Battlefield" or "We Belong"

The Eagles-"Take it to the Limit"

REO Speedwagon-"Keep on Loving You" or "Can't Fight this Feeling"

Toto-"Rosanna"

Heart-"Alone" or "These Dreams"

Guns and Roses-"Cold November Rain" (Alex's suggestion)

Foreigner-"I Want to Know What Love Is"

Journey-"Open Arms" or "Faithfully"

Chicago-"Hard Habit to Break" or "Hard to Say, I'm Sorry"

Scorpions-"Winds of Change"

Bonnie Tyler-"Total Eclipse of the Heart"

Richard Marx-"Right Here Waiting"

Aerosmith-"Angel"

Warrant-"Heaven"

Mr. Big-"To Be With You"

Survivor-"The Search is Over"

Allanah Myles-"Black Velvet"

Just close your eyes and imagine it...

Land Chic & Water Babe

2008-06-19T19:57:00.000-07:00

In order to prevent the gals from getting into too much mischeif while we were were cleaning the backyard, we turned on the sprinklers. It was a beautiful day, and this was the first "suit up" of the season. Esmé took to the sprinklers immediatley, but Sophie preferred to relax in her chair. She did not want to get wet at all, and cried when Alex squirted her a little with the hose. This is one of the interesting personality differences between the twins. (Another is that Esmé needs a lot more sleep than Sophia--Sophia could party into the wee hours of night--much to mine and Esmé's expense.)

On the other hand, Esmé loves water. I think it is because her core temperature runs a little hotter than many. Her little head sweats a lot particularly when it is hot outside and she doesn't even have that much hair! These are a couple of shots of her running through the sprinklers on backyard cleanup day.

Notice the nice fence in the background. We like the backyard, it is small, but now with the fence up it is like we can be in our own little private world right in downtown SLC.

The colder the water the better, it doesn't phase her, she's is so daring! It is so funny to see her run around the yard with her cute little run. One of our on going projects is to plant some desert plants that don't need a lot of assistance or water. Currently we only have a few and are mostly cultivating weeds. (As our main focus has been the front yard and indoor projects.) Hopefully as the summer progresses you will notice the yard progress too.

Backyard Boogie

2008-06-19T17:46:00.000-07:00

So every year we fail to winterize the backyard. This year was especially bad because we remodeled the kitchen the previous summer/fall. We had a lot of junk lying around from that such as broken tile pieces. (And a ton of other junk--like an old sock of Alex's that he was really excited to find.) It was really dirty and gross and needed a good reorganize. So we rounded up Es and Soph and put them in their swimsuits and Alex and I cleaned. It took a good three hours for us to make a dent in the mess. Alex put a shelf up in the garage and swept and moved a lot of stuff in there. The babes now have a nice outside place to play.

One of the best things about the backyard is the old fridge that was discarded in place of the new one. The gals have a seemingly endless supply of otterpops available at a moments notice. (I told Alex that we will fill it with beverages and embrace the redneckness of it.) The backyard still needs a lot of help but the girls are loving being able to play out there and don't seem to notice that it doesn't look like the Pottery Barn catalog. I think that the new fence made it look a thousand times better (thank you Alex!) and it is nice not to feel like we are being stalked by the neighbors behind us--or that we are at their mariache beer party. Cleaning this year made me promise myself that we will at least cover the toys, grill and table/chairs before the winter frost.

The gals are relaxing from all the work they were doing. If you will notice the water table in the background. That was especially heinous--because of the bright orange algae growing in it. A little spray from the hose and some Clorox spray goes a long way!

Father's Day

2008-06-16T23:32:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of items I received for Father's Day:

-iTunes Gift Cards
-20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
-Arabian Nights
-Chick-Fil-A Gift Card
-Aerobie Sprint (The Astonishing Flying Ring)

Sarah and the girls met me for lunch today at Chick-Fil-A. You may think that it's out of their way to drive all the way to Sandy from downtown just for some fast food, but Sarah will not be deterred. She loves her some chicken. Chick-Fil-A chicken that is. And sauces and bleu cheese dressing. She is a walking Chick-Fil-A commercial. Anyway, it was fun (until Esmé pooped her pants, it went kind of downhill from there).

Hidin'

2008-06-11T21:19:00.000-07:00

Oh look! It's Sophia. She just popped up to say hello. This was a very large log, or tunnel as Sophia called it, at the zoo playground. It is fittingly located adjacent from the prairie dogs. Sophia thought this was one of the highlights of the evening. I think she crawled through it at least 10 times.

Too high for comfort...

2008-06-11T21:11:00.000-07:00

Sophia is usually the one who climbs whenever she gets the chance. Esmé is usually the more cautious of the two, so I was surprised that Esmé found the rope ladder and climbed all the way up before Sophia. Once she got to the top of the ladder she got a little scared, as you can see by her face. With a little talking she was able to climb over to the slide and was quite proud of herself at the end of it. Go Esmé!

A Panda for Esmé

2008-06-11T21:00:00.000-07:00

Esmé wanted to ride a giraffe but the giraffe was one of the few animals that only stood still, so I persuaded her that the panda was the one for her. The panda was right next to the tiger which Sophia rode. I was excited that we were able to ride two of the endangerd animals that the girls and I have talked about. Esmé was quite serious about her ride. She didn't want me to hold on to her at all, I think she really got into the idea that she was really riding the panda--and me holding onto her was destroying the illusion.

Riding a Tiger

2008-06-11T20:56:00.001-07:00

Sophia loved the tiger. When I asked her what animal she wanted to ride while we were in line she kept saying either the zebra or the tiger. We chose the tiger because it was close to the panda for Esmé. I was able to stand between the girls. As you can see by the grin, Sophia could have rode all night.

Trains and Carousels

2008-06-11T20:43:00.000-07:00

The girls and I went to the zoo member's night this past week for the grand opening of the new carousel. We had some pizza, rode the train, played on the playground, saw some animals and then capped the evening off with the carousel. The gals were very excited to give the conductor the train tickets.

Out of Towners and Cups of Tea

2008-06-10T10:48:00.000-07:00

The girls and Alex went to Oregon to visit Alex's family for the weekend. I had a chance to feel what it would be like without them for a couple of days. I enjoyed it, but I also got lonely.

On Saturday, my mom and I went to this little tea room and pastry shop called Elizabeth's English Bakery and Tea Shop. It is located at 575 South 700 East. We had the best hot chocolate ever. and scones...mmmmmm. It was super cute and I want to recommend it.

Giving up the blog fight...

2008-06-10T10:21:00.000-07:00

Against my better judgement I have created a blog. Alex and I created a blog about a year ago when we were badgered into it by my voyeuristic sister, who has also created a myfamily website. Needless to say, she is one of the only ones to post on it. The rest of us have lost our passwords and are continually recieving new "re-invites" to log onto the family site.

We deleted our old blog. We decided that we had nothing interesting to say and most of the blogs we had access to seemed pretty self-promoting--to the point of bragging.

In short, I am determined to use this as a journal to chronolog our adventures, love and laughs. My paper journals are long gthering dust, so here is a fresh start. Hopefully, it lasts.