"But, I love 'hate'!"

So, Addie has discovered the fabulous word "hate" and says it all the time. "I hate _____", she just fills in the blank with whatever her little 3 year-old mind can think of. We have been gently telling her that it is not a nice word to say and please say "I don't like _______" instead. Well, today in church, sitting in the bishop's office, no less, she decided to start telling us what she "hated" and Daddy told her to please don't say "hate". So, she responds with, "But, I love 'hate'". We laughed so hard and she picked right up on that and said it over and over, louder and louder. What a silly girl she is. She loves 'hate', ok?!

Happy Birthday to Sizzie!

We celebrated Aunt Lindsay's birthday today with a BBQ. Don came and brought his kids and it was really fun. We ate, watched "The Little Rascals", set up the tent to the kids could play in it and played beanbag toss in the back yard until it was too dark to see anymore.


Posing for the camera. Seth has the lighter. He really wanted to light the candles!

So, Will let him light the candles! He really likes to do things himself!

Will got a Rob Thomas cd today, so we rocked out and Seth went downstairs and got his guitar.

Our rocker, Seth with frosting on his face.

Yes, there are no pictures of the birthday girl. She was adamant that there would be no picture taking of her, so I obliged. We really did have a great day and the kids didn't want them to leave! Happy birthday, Lindsay. We love you to pieces.

We went to the Hogle Zoo today!

On a whim, we decided to go to the zoo today! We had not been since before Addie was born! Daddy works downtown SLC, so he joined us at about 1:30, which was not long after we got there! Grandma came, too and it was a lot of fun! But I just gotta say, those snakes are completely deeeee-scusting. Sasha would not even look at them. Please don't ask for a snake someday, Seth. The answer is "NOOOOO".

• Daddy, Seth, and Sasha with the giraffes. Seth said to them, "Hi, giraffes. I'm Seth". Then Addie copied and introduced herself to them as well. Cute.

• Seth waited forever for his turn to sit on this big elephant that made noise and sprayed water out of it's trunk. I think it was the highlight of his day! Although he looks completely not amused in this picture. He really did like sitting on it. I think he was bummed Addie had to sit in front of him. He wanted it all to himself.
• Oh, and notice Sasha's beloved "Brownie the Dog" in her arms. She nearly lost him when she left him on the bench we sat on while having a treat. Luckily, Daddy found him and returned him to our tearful, tender-hearted Sasha Belle.
• 
  
• Zebras are cool, huh.

Seth and Addie posing by "Kuzco" from "The Emperor's New Groove". LOL. (It's a llama. It is a very funny show. You should watch it if you haven't already.)

Albie's sale this week was a goooood one!

Gotta LOVE:
$1.00 pickles
.50 raisins
.50 chicken broth
.50 mustard
.50 ranch dip pack
$1.00 Kikoman sweet and sour sauce
.50 mac and cheese
.50 pork and beans
$1.00 napkins
Free: Dove shampoo after coupons and $7.00 catalina coupon that printed when I bought five.





But the coolest was the Nexus shampoo that I found on clearance for $3.49!!!!!!!!!! Also, the Sunsilk hair spray was on clearance for $1.99 and I had a coupon that saved me $1.50 off each one. So they were .49 a piece!!! Yes, you can use coupons for clearance items! It rocks!


So I saved $105.93 and spent $60.00. Using coupons today saved me: $26.00!! The cashier was a young man and he was impressed! It was a good shopping trip, thanks to pinchingyourpennies.com!!

Partners in crime: Seth and Addie

I don't know what I am going to do with those two! The past few nights, neither of them have wanted to go in bed, especially Addie. They even both woke up at 5:30 on Monday morning, and were ready to PARTY. After they woke me up, I could not go back to bed, and had actually planned on waking early to work out. They came in our bed and started laughing about the way Addie says "cracker". Seriously. Then they were running around and woke Sasha up at 6am. Everyone crashed in the late afternoon, which meant bedtime was a joke: no one was tired except for me and daddy. So, tonight, I am not sleepy and was sitting here looking on the pyp website for deals, and I hear those two downstairs laughing. I take my time going down there, and I wish I wouldn't have. They had gotten into the closet where I keep my health and beauty stash. They had a can of shaving cream and had it sprayed all over the carpet, all over eachother, and had found a new toothbrush and had shaving cream all over it, too. No, I did not take a picture. Grrrrrr. It is too late at night for that. I am telling you: they are PARTNERS IN CRIME. Help me, someone!

I have the best hubby in the world!

I really do have the best hubby around. Thank you, Will for giving me alone time today! I went to the jeans sale at Old Navy, ate at Applebee's, and went to Mervyn's with my buddy, Cara. Will did not call to see when I was coming home and the house looked amazing when I got home. The kids had fun "special time with Daddy" and I came home rejuvinated. Thanks Babe, I needed that!

Here is what I did today......

Homemade bread ROCKS! And I rock cuz I can actually make it!!!! Ok, I had help learning the ropes. (Thanks Ember.) Can I just say that making something from scratch is so satisfying to me. I feel so accomplished. LOL. I love the smell of homemade bread and I love that Will enjoys it so much. I have a Nutra Mill wheat grinder and use hard red wheat. It really isn't that hard, I am thrilled to say. YUM! Can you smell it?!





I also made some whole wheat cinnamon rolls today. I totally love homemade ones, not store bought. Even from the bakery, they just aren't as good. I tweaked a recipe I found, cut the amount of butter down quite a bit, and they turned out just fine. I love that my kids eat them right up for breakfast, or a snack! Again, they really aren't hard at all to do. Yum. Yum. These are ready to go in the oven and get baked.

Addie has figured out how to PEDAL!!

Way to go, Little Boo! You have got the hang of pedaling and you are on your way! Wahoo, Addie!

Bobbing for grapes and blueberries!!

Sasha bobbed for strawberries at a birthday party once, and has wanted to do it ever since. Well, all I had were grapes and a few blueberries since I just used all the strawberries for jam. It was honestly the funniest thing I have seen in a long time. Grapes sink, so that meant they had to stick their face completely in the water to try to get one. I have not laughed that hard in awhile and it felt so good.

Punch for sale: 10 cents!!

How cute is this!? The kids wanted to sell punch, so, hey, I was game. Sasha lugged that table all the way upstairs and outside; that is one strong chick!! I set up the umbrella, we made the punch and got ready to sell.


We drank most of the punch ourselves, and spilled a bunch all over the place......



Sasha told me the UPS man came over the gave them 10 dimes. What a nice guy!!




It was really cute and they had fun.

Here is what I did yesterday!!

Ream's still had their fresh strawberries on sale 2 for $3 so I went back, got some more, and made two more batches of yummy freezer jam. I love this Ball Pectin! It was sooooo much easier than other versions. All you add is sugar to the pectin, stir for 3 minutes and put in the jars. I am totally buying this kind next year! I have tried some that you had to add Karo syrup, sugar, lemon juice, plus let it sit for 30 minutes, and it was a long process. This tastes great and was much quicker!!






I also bought some bell pepper at Ream's and they were 3 for $1, which is great since they are usually $1 a piece. I chopped them up, put them on wax paper, and froze them in the freezer. Once they were frozen, I put them in indivual bags and put them back in the freezer. They will not be crunchy so I won't be able to use them in salads, but can use them in something I am baking or heating up. Yum.

I am...............Megan

I saw this on a friends blog and thought it was cool. Copy me all you want!! :)

I am....sad to see summer end.
I want....to know how many kids I will have.
I have......to have chocolate frequently.
I wish.....I could fly.
I hate......conflicts.
I fear.....drowning.
I hear....my kids and hubby jumping on the trampoline.
I search......for my cell phone daily. I have to call it using my home phone all the time.
I don't think......I'll ever have enough time in one day to get all the things done I want to.
I regret.....not getting the right degree for me. I wish I would have done elementary education instead of Medical Assisiting.
I love.....to hear laughter.
I ache for.....how if feels to hold your baby in your arms.
I always.....put my shopping cart away.....well almost always.
I am not......good at reading instructions. I never do. Yuck.
I dance......in the living room all the time with my kids. They think I am awesome doing the Running Man. Oh, to be young again and going to Stomps.
I sing......to brighten my day.
I never.......rent chick flicks. Ok, pretty much never.
I rarely......sweep my floor. Yuck.
I cry when I watch.......my kids perform at school programs.
I am not always......nice.
I hate that......I can't do the spilts. Never could. Even with all my years dancing.
I am confused about........how people can do math in their head. Like my husband. Amazing.
I need......to squeeze every last drop out of summer before the kids go back to school.
I should......be doing situps right now. Do they really work?

There now it is your turn.

Happy Birthday to Sasha Belle!

Sasha Belle, our sweetheart, turned 7 today! She had her presents from us opened by 9am! Wahoo.




Daddy took the day off and we ate breakfast at Sasha's favorite place: IHOP!!


She got the cutest Tinkerbell Tea Set. She was so sweet and let Addie play with it all day.



Sasha was so excited that Grandma and Grandpa got her this Hello Kitty makeup kit she has been wanting!


We had a BBQ and had the Morton's over! It was quite the party!


Here is her cake I made.

I still can't believe she is 7. I still remember how thrilled Will and I were when we found out we were expecting and better yet, that all was going well this time. There was a time that I wasn't sure I would be able to make it all the way through a pregnancy! Then, here she came. When she was born, she did not cry, she just looked around. She was such a sweet, easy-going baby. And she is still that way today! She is my little crafting buddy and Daddy's little trampoline buddy. We thank Heavenly Father for you each day, Sasha. We love you so much and are so glad you are a part of our eternal family.

The Ward Campout!!

Good morning!

Seth by that noisy river!

Addie eating Dots for breakfast! Save some for me!




Sasha did not want to come outside in the morning! It really was chilly and I did not pack long pj's for the her and Seth! Sorry about that!



Sasha and Addie enjoying some hot chocolate in our new tent!

We had a fun night sleep and now we are ready to EAT!!

Here's the scoop: Last night was the Hansen Meadows Ward Campout at Camp Woodland near Morgan. The kids and I picked out a tent at Walmart and tried to put it together a few hours before the campout. It did not go too well, huh, Sasha!? We really needed someone taller on the other side! We got to the campsite and ate a yummy dinner: hot dogs and hamburgers! I brought Mom's chocolate sheet cake to share; there were lots of yummy salads and desserts. The kids had a ball running around; Seth especially was in heaven. After dinner we set up the tent; it went so much easier with Daddy's help! We thought it would be fun to be close to the river.......it was soooo loud we decided! We laughed about that off and on all night. We went to bed at around 10pm, telling spooky stories!! Here is Addies story: "Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Mommy, and then there were goblins, and witches and ghosts, the end." The kids had to hold our only flashlight (I swear we have tons, but I could only find one!!) as they told their story. It was precious. The ground was a bit lumpy; no we did not have any mats or the like. Plus, it was colder than I had anticipated!! Burrrrr!! We all woke up at around 4am, freezing, and laughing at nothing much in particular!! It was so much fun! The bishopric got up bright and early and made breakfast: pancakes, eggs, bacon, juice and hot chocolate. This ward is so fun and we are so glad we went!

See, I do Addie's hair sometimes!!

Addie usually rips her hair out as soon as I get it done and it always looks like I never do her hair at all! I figured out a way to do her hair that she can't rip right out! Wahoo! I win, Addie!

Addie as the "HULK"

I was in the kitchen this morning and Addie came up behind me and said, "Mom, I the Hulk". It was so stinkin' cute! I grabbed the camera and got a couple of shots before she took it all off and went on her merry way!

Seth crashed and burned!

Seth took quite a spill on his bike, and wanted every single scrape covered with a band-aid. You can't see very well in the picture of his face, but he has about 5 band-aids on his chin and cheek. We felt so bad; his little chin took the brunt of it! Sorry, Bud-Bud. Oh, and he was out the very next day riding hard again. He doesn't give up!

The Tooth Fairy came!!

Sasha lost another tooth the other day! (On the bottom, far right). The Tooth Fairy gave her $3 whole dollars! She scored big time! (Oh, and there is Seth showing off his Pop Tart. He is thrilled beyond measure about that! I don't buy them much!)