stapley family

farm day

2010-04-15T15:58:00.000-07:00

Ella had "Farm Day" at preschool today. (and lovin' any excuse to wear cowgirl boots!) They had a little petting zoo set up for the kids and my girls were in heaven. I couldn't believe how patient the animals were with being picked up, petted, and loved on.

Allison just ran from animal to animal touching it once, then on to the next. "Duck, Duck, Goose!"

Ella stayed close to the bunnies and had one in her arms pretty much the entire time.

Auburn just loved being with the animals and the big kids

(or are they one and the same?)

sweet dreams

2010-04-08T16:28:00.000-07:00

When Allison woke up from her nap at GGs house this is what we found. Looks like she most definitely had "sweet dreams".

2010-04-07T21:03:00.000-07:00

my silly girls

2009-10-31T21:00:00.000-07:00

Can't I get a HAPPY Halloween?

What? I can't HEAR you!

Oh... that's much better!

Happy Halloween 2009

2009-07-24T14:09:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July!

do not try this at home

2009-05-10T15:18:00.000-07:00

I knew it was trouble when:

1. I asked Whitney what we should have for dessert on Mother's Day.

2. She had the perfect recipe.

3. She had never made it or eaten it.

4. Jean couldn't even read it to me over the phone because she couldn't pronounce some of the words. (and she's a gourmet chef...and smart!)

5. When she scanned it over to me, it was four pages, small print.

6. It called for more than one alcoholic beverage.

I was smart and delegated dessert to Whitney.

She made several trips to random grocery stores trying to find strange ingredients and the result...

Pour cherry liquor on some cardboard slabs and top it with pretty shavings, and you'll enjoy our Mother's Day dessert.

I repeat: do not try this at home.

I knew it was trouble when:

I asked Whitney what to have for dessert.

fresh squeezed lemonade

2009-05-09T14:39:00.000-07:00

cost: $3.50
earned: $31.25
(and we even slashed prices to half off 15 minutes after opening!)

grandma paul

2009-05-02T13:53:00.000-07:00

I stayed after Women's Conference to visit Grandma Paul. It was so nice for Jann, Debbie, Billie, and Andelyn (and little Soleil) to entertain me for the day. I am so lucky to have family that is so helpful and that I enjoy visiting so much. It had been a while since I'd seen Grandma, so it was a bit tough at first to adjust to seeing her that way.. with oxygen, struggling to speak. But as we got to chatting I was shocked to realize how well she remembers the funniest things. She was remembering all my "missionary mishaps" with old boyfriends and how it took Troy and I so long to decide to get married. She was recounting the stories like they happened yesterday. Grandma always had dating advice for me. My favorite thing was when she shared and Grandpa's love letters with all the girls. This picture of them on their honeymoon hung in my college apartment for years.

Just driving to her house and walking through her halls brought back SO many memories of summers in Utah. I remember walking down to the swimming pool and eating plums from the trees on the way home. I loved when we helped clean Grandma's garage… we always found such treasures in the closet...lots of gold leafing and the greatest coats and party dresses. Trying them on entertained us for hours.

Oh I'm glad I could see her again.

mia maids

2009-05-01T13:06:00.000-07:00

This weekend Noelle, Kris & I headed up to Utah for some "presidency bonding" at Women's Conference. The weather was beautiful and I even enjoyed the rain. Being my first Women's Conference, I didn't have much to compare it to (except those wild EFY weeks!)

We mapped out our classes and thought we'd picked some real winners (a perfect blend of heavy spiritual and light humor...or so we thought) After staying up till all hours in the morning chatting, even light spiritual was too heavy as were our eye lids. So we made sure to cross the entire campus multiple times down the long flight of stairs to the fieldhouse for some more humor.. but it was nowhere to be found.. we just kept being stuck in serious classes, with no backed benches, no ac and loud fans. They were actually all great, just not what we had expected. Although Brad Wilcox came through for us in the end and we were thrilled.

Thursday night they had a concert and this "boy band" a capella group did a 80s-90s rap medley. The women were in the aisles dancing and waiving their cell phones around like lighters. I was embarrassed to even be in the crowd, I was laughing so hard I was in tears. The MC called us "a bunch of Mia Maids" for how we were acting. He hit it on the head! They also had other wonderful performers including "Bring Him Home" by Dallyn Bayles . Now THAT deserved a standing ovation (unlike the closing song following Elder L. Tom Perry's devotional where we were the ONLY three women sitting out of 26,000). What snobs we are.

One of my favorite parts of being away was that I ate constantly and never prepared or cleaned my own meal! (and yes, strawberry milkshakes and "Cougar Tails" are considered meals!) I'm still a bit sick from eating the entire brownie sundae solo. I'll never live it down!

I loved what one of the speakers said...that most of what we will take away from this conference, the ideas, insights, inspiration... will come through the discussions we have after we go back to the hotels each night with the women we came with. I absolutely found that to be the case. I was so uplifted, enriched and edified (and sometime mortified!) by the stories, advice and discussions both Kris and Noelle shared on our trip. I am so lucky to be surrounded by great women!

smokey the bear

2009-04-10T14:45:00.000-07:00

Troy took the "first batch" camping and from their dirt and smiles,

it looked like fun! Apparently Troy almost started a forest fire when the wind picked up. Way to go Smokey!Dallin was the photographer and came back with lots of pictures..

mostly of fire.

memory lane

2009-04-05T15:14:00.000-07:00

Each night before bed, Troy tells the kids a story. He usually tells a story of his childhood... growing up on Harrison street (out in Gilbert when it was nothing but fields and farms).

So after conference we took the kids and Troy's parents out to the old house on Harrison.

It was fun to see the old prints in the cement and have the kids recognize so many things from the bedtime stories. (They kept trying to find "the mean dog named Butch")

Life sure was different "back then"... with all that space and no safety concerns. (climbing on electric fences, burning the weeds with blow torches, underage driving, playing with matches... yes my kids are learning some real gems from 'ole dad!)

It was a lovely stroll down memory lane.

reverence tent

2009-04-05T14:34:00.000-07:00

We tried the "Reverence Tent" idea for General Conference. I love the idea of teaching about King Benjamin and how the families turned their tents to face the prophet as he taught them.

But I think, aside from the photo op, I was the one that spent the most time in the Reverence Tent. All those pillows were just calling my name!

But I was reverent!

april fool's day

2009-04-01T22:51:00.000-07:00

Dallin & Ella were fooled by their milk that started off white, but changed colors with each bite!

Having a hard time drinking your juice, Dallin? Gotcha!

public transportation

2009-03-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

We decided it would be a fun family activity to take the kids to try the Light Rail that runs from West Mesa into downtown Phoenix.

Dallin and Ella loved the ride and entertained all the passengers with their squeals.

We got off and walked down Mill until Allison started throwing up all over. We chose to forgo dinner and get back home. Allison had another "incident" all over Troy on our way to the train. And then again all over me on the ride back. I was trying to contain it in a bag in my purse, but not doing a great job. I was dying of embarrassment as all the other passengers were just looking at our mess and enduring the smell. I hopped off with the baby at the next stop and sent Troy and the other three alone to ride back in to get our car then pick me up. Thank heavens for cell phones because I had no idea where I was when I hopped off and just sent the rest of my family on their way.

Allison eventually fell asleep and I started walking toward home (another 15 miles). After a mile or so (in three inch heels) Troy and the rest of the crew found us and we all made it safely home. I don’t think public transportation is for us yet.

the original pancake house

2009-03-21T14:02:00.000-07:00

Whenever we get together for breakfast with the Farnsworths.. it's ALWAYS the Pancake House out in Scottsdale. The place looks like a dive at the base of a Motel 6, but the apple pancake that you have to call in and order an hour before arrival, is heavenly! It's becoming more and more of a circus to get us all together, but I'm sure the waitress is well tipped! (And Grandpa didn't even have to fight for his fresh squeezed orange juice and hot maple syrup. Do I miss that? Hmmm.)

lucky guppie

2009-03-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

We got a fish last weekend and already I want to flush it down the toilet. The bowl gets too dirty too quickly and grosses me out. But today I walked in and Allison was sitting on the kitchen island (still no idea how she got up there) stabbing a butcher knife into the fish bowl. Luckily nobody was hurt, although, secretly, I wouldn’t have minded the fish’s tragic death. I guess his name proves true. Lucky Guppie.

a + a = trouble

2009-03-12T20:24:00.003-07:00

These girls are just something else!

This is pretty typical of Allison and Auburn. I will get one out of the tub and dress her and by the time I go back to get the next one… they’re back together in the bath.

The twins had their 18 month check up and waiting for the doctor had me in stitches! The girls were running around and under the exam table, pulling the paper off the table etc. They were just giggling their mischievous giggles and I was desperately trying to think of anything to keep them off the floor yet out of all the drawers and cupboards. I couldn't think of anything.

Allison and Auburn LOVE to empty out my dirty clothes basket. Auburn came out last week with 8 layers of clothes she had adorned herself in… dirty T-shirts, underwear, garments, and pajamas. Lovely.

This is our daily life.

tea parties

2009-03-04T20:26:00.000-08:00

My girls love to dress up! We gave Ella a tea set for her birthday and I think every sip of water she had for the next week was out of her little tea cup. She had some friends over a couple days ago and they had a ball getting dolled up for their tea party.

2009-02-21T00:09:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Ella!

mamma

2009-02-15T14:26:00.000-08:00

Allison wanted to help make the cake.

Happy Birthday Mom!

all you need is love....all together now

2009-02-14T15:05:00.000-08:00

This Valentine's we had fun making lots of treats for those we LOVE!

And of course, ended with Troy's sweet treat for the kids.

let the rain fall

2009-02-09T21:00:00.000-08:00

I love our family tradition of making sopapillas on rainy days.

nag nag nag

2009-02-01T12:28:00.000-08:00

To Mom, (pretty much the only one who reads my blog) I am trying to put up my pictures from the last couple months. (back-blogging) So you'll always see this race post (becaue it's the most recent). Just scroll down and see if anything new is posted after the race. OK.. so can we please stop the "when are you going to update your blog" phone calls? :) I love you! Sand

she's goin' the distance, she's goin' for speed...

2009-01-31T21:00:00.000-08:00

Last year Karen impressed me by finishing the London's Run half marathon, a charity race to benefit children fighting cancer. So this year she tried dragging me into it. Which, actually, wasn't too hard of a sale, I've been wanting to run a marathon for years now, but my knees haven't had the same goal. But I started training at Christmas time and was really enjoying it. The weather on Saturday morning long runs was ideal and I think it's the longest I've ever been alone post twins.

Unfortunately, Friday I came down with the flu and I was bitter...really bitter. Dad and Troy gave me a blessing and the next morning I drug myself out of bed and out to Queen Creek.

The race started and I ran and ran and ran. I felt pretty good and made a goal to not let anyone pass me after mile one. I think I'm a little more competitive than I thought and kept trying to get ahead of whoever was next in front of me. (The same way I drive.) I felt bad if it was a guy next in line for me to pass, (for their male ego) so I would give them about 30 seconds to pick up the pace... and if they didn't they had to deal being passed by a girl. (When you're running 13 plus miles you have to think of something to pass the time.)

It was also touching and motivating to see the posters of the children fighting their cancer battles encouraging us to "keep going". I think I choked up a few times just feeling how lucky I was to actually be running and in good health.

The last mile I was ready for the race to be over and then I saw Troy. I thought he was staying home with the sick kids, but there he was cheering me on the last leg. It felt so good to round the corner and have the energy to sprint home and see Karen & the kids.

I looked at my finish time and was instantly bummed. 1:50. I had wanted to finish right over 2 hours... (120 minutes). So when I saw the clock I was thinking 150 minutes. Then Troy informed me the clock said 1 hour & 50 minutes... ten minutes faster than my goal. Ooops! I was now thrilled. Instead of a 9 minute mile that I was used to, I had been running an 8.3 minute mile. I think because I was sick I couldn't gage my pace very well... wich turned out to be quite advantageous. I'm glad it's over, but so glad I did it. Now I'm looking for a Saturday marathon and time and energy to train for it.

2009-01-26T23:42:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun celebrating Chinese New Year.

We all dressed up in authentic Chinese costumes and made delicious Chinese food.

Dallin was the pro at eating with chopsticks!

Rub Allison's Buddha for good luck!

four seasons?

2009-01-17T20:25:00.000-08:00

Not having seasons excludes us from a lot of those great “childhood memory” things… snow angels, jumping in piles of leaves, tasting icicles etc.

So Troy tried to fake it for the kids by raking as many leaves as he could to make a measly pile. The kids thought it was a blast to jump in, even though they were hitting hard ground each time because the pile was so meager!

sassy

2009-01-13T21:00:00.000-08:00

Ella inherited bad hair genes (no offense to my lovely inlaws). It is thin and her hairline starts half way up her head. So we tried cutting it to see if we could make it appear fuller. The jury is still out on whether it helped or not... but she thinks she is so sassy now!

bitty

2009-01-08T20:25:00.000-08:00

Having Whitney here for the holidays had to be one of my favorite things. All she wanted to do while she was here was "nothing" (sounds like her birthday wish mentioned here). Quite honestly I didn't know what to do with such low expectations. I tried my hardest to do nothing while she was around, but I was rarely successful. We put her to work. Whitney just went between Karen, Mom and I and took an aspect of our life and decided to fix it.

* Apparently Karen needed some make-up tips.. which is always so successful with 7 kids running around.

*She completely rearranged Mom & Dad's living room, somehow moving a grand piano by herself!

* My wardrobe was rampaged and purged of all 90s clothing. (except for the denim overalls... I want my kids to have something totally authentic to wear for 90s day at school someday). Of course we had to try them all on and mock me first.

*And the biggest project of all... Whit decided to fix my kids. (They are slow as molasses and so I end up doing everything for all four of them... gets very wearing.) Whitney knocked on the front door one morning before school and introduced herself as "Miss Independence". She was all dressed up with the craziest get up and make up. My kids' eyes were like saucers... they'd never seen anything like it. She explained what "independence" means and showed how she got herself dressed that morning. She had made up a little incentive program (magic beans... which they still think will "grow a surprise") for them to get dressed every morning by themselves before the timer rings. Dallin and Ella ate it up and took right to the idea. Way to go Miss Independence!

christmas eve

2008-12-24T21:00:00.000-08:00

It was a Stapley Christmas this year and the kids made a cameo appearance in the nativity play. I secretly loved Ella's scandalous angel costume with her bare mid drift showing!

We did our candlelight sharing and still made it home with time to open pajamas and put treats out for Santa.

2008-12-23T21:00:00.000-08:00

Whitney & Bryan came to help us frost Christmas cookies. Dallin and Ella definitely take after their mother...we could barely see the cookies with the mounds of frosting they applied! Yummmmm!

ward christmas party

2008-12-13T21:00:00.000-08:00

giving thanks

2008-11-27T21:00:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving weekend was quite enjoyable this year. We started the morning off at the gym trying to offset the damage we were going to do to our bodies that afternoon. I guess we pushed the twins a little too hard on their exercises because this is how we found them during lunch. And although dinner wasn't at Grandma & Grandpa Farnsworth's home like usual, we still had a Farnsworth size feast. (Not that I ate anything other than rolls, mashed potatoes, and pie... why waste my stomach room on the "extras" like turkey and vegetables?)

But the food looked great and the company was as charming as always.

After our meal we went on a family stroll to take advantage of the nice weather. Although Auburn decided she was done walking and would prefer a full blown tantrum on the side walk.

By the end of the lovely day, Auburn's attitude seem to spread to the rest of the family. Troy did spend the evening in the ER with Ella and ear infections...so at least she had an excuse!

Nevertheless, I am grateful for all the wonderful blessings in my life...I have many.

3 going on 13

2008-11-26T10:05:00.000-08:00

I just got my first

" I hate you!"

from Ella. I told her she needed a shirt on under her dress ups so she wouldn't be cold. She has been screaming now for 30 minutes. I told her to go in her room until she was done screaming.

That's when those dreaded words came, those words that just began the rest of my teenage

(yes, she's only three)

daughter raising years.

E for Effort

2008-11-11T21:00:00.000-08:00

For Veteran's Day we went to play tennis with Karen. All the courts were locked except for one that was being used. By the time we made it around to check all the other locks, the unlocked court became available. We tried playing but were horrible! We thought we had lost our obvious "skills" but then realized that it was so dark we could barely see the ball. (At least that's our story, and we're stickin' to it.)

Chalk it up as another E for Effort.

book fair

2008-11-07T21:00:00.000-08:00

Dallin was having a family picnic at school in conjunction with the school Book Fair. Being a sucker for family outings and books, I was excited to take the girls to join him.

Lunch was a spectacle.. nothing out of the ordinary for us. So when Dallin was finally finished eating we eagerly went to check out the book fair.

I had told Dallin we could get something special at the fair (I'm always looking for excuses to buy books!) But when we got inside the tiny cramped portable, Dallin had another special treat in mind.... a huge bug vacuum. I was at my wits end already with the three girls running every which way pulling down books every where they walked and now Dallin starts into hysterics. Tears, wailing tears, because he doesn't want a book from the BOOK fair, he wants a toy. It's called a BOOK fair for a reason!! I was trying to console him in the corner while prying the bug vacuum from his fingers. It wasn't working. Time passed. Too much time, I knew there were going to be consequences. I stood up and spanned the crowded room knowing I had lost at least one of my children. And sure enough, after crawling under all the tables and shelves to find Ella and Allison, Auburn was gone. It's funny though, I wasn't even panicked. I didn't have enough energy to panic. I just waltzed out the door with three screaming kids on my hips (yes, my poor hips were outnumbered). And as I loaded up the stroller I heard the "Lost Child" announcement on the loud speaker. Then I began the walk of shame. From the very back of the lunch group, I had to lug my crying 5 year old, my 3 year old who is clutching a stolen book from the fair, and a dangling 18 month old to claim her match. My face (and my apparent situation) just dared anyone to say something or make mental judgement. Let's give it up to mother of the year. See ya at next year's book fair.

halloween 2008

2008-10-31T21:00:00.000-07:00

lunch at gg & gpa's

2008-10-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

Halloween always begins with Trick-or-Treating and a special Halloween lunch at Grandma & Grandpa Farnsworth's.

I feel bad I have so many pictures of the girls and only one of Dallin. His costume wasn't completely assembled and he and Carter were messing around so much it just wasn't worth the fight.

Auburn loved sweeping up GG's rocks... almost as much as she and Allison loved throwing them all over the patio.

Mom & Grandma are the best to make such a memorable afternoon for the kids.

goody ghost

2008-10-26T21:00:00.000-07:00

My favorite part of Halloween this year was the Goody Ghost. Every few nights we would go out delivering treats to unsuspecting friends and neighbors. Dallin and Ella loved wearing their ghost costumes to run to and from the doors. They would practice over and over at our door... ringing the doorbell as the other one feigned surprise that there were "goodies" at the doorstep. (Ella didn't understand what a "goody" was.. and she said it so funny...gu-dy.) Then they would switch and the other would have a turn... this went on all night. (I was trying to remind myself it was a good thing that my doorbell was ringing every 30 seconds for 45 minutes straight.) But it was so nice to see them excited about giving. Although it did begin with a meltdown thinking ALL their treats were being given away... but once they were assured that one was waiting at home for them.. the giving spirit was back into effect! Hey.. it's gotta start somewhere.

The best night was on Sunday when they got all dressed up into their Halloween costumes and we went to deliver treats and sing Halloween carols to some of the widows and older couples in the ward. The kids did a great job singing, "Boo!", "Mean Old Witch" and "Mr. Jack-o-Lantern". And the best part was when Dallin and Ella shared their Halloween jokes.

Q: What do you call a witch who lives at the beach"

A: A sandwich

Q: What's a ghost's favorite kind of ice cream?

A: BOOnilla

But instead of sticking with the script.. Dallin insisted on sharing his joke that he made up.

Q: What do you call a ghost that flies?

A: A bird ghost.

Yeah.. it was a knee slapper! :) But everyone laughed like he was Johnny Carson!

I almost felt selfish for how good I was feeling as we were supposedly "serving" someone else. I LOVE that generation of people. They treat my kids like they walk on water, they give them so much positive encouragement and praise.. I just wish my kids could fully understand the greatness of these men and women.. the things that they have experienced, all they have learned and know, how strong and powerful they truly are. But for now.. they're just thrilled when they give them candy.

Baby steps!

spooktacular

2008-10-24T21:00:00.000-07:00

The Smith's had the coolest Halloween party! There were tons of kids, games, and amazing food. And it wasn't any of that nasty kid Halloween stuff.. it was so eerily gourmet & tasty:
black-eyed pea salsa....."roadkill"
tortilla chips................... "scabs"
chicken chili.................... "witch's brew
baked brie with apples... " mad scientist head"
then of course the eyeballs and weir-wolf poop.

I don't know how Laura pulled it all off. I would have been a frazzled wreck with so much going on... but her personality allowed it to be so comfortable and fun for everyone. That girl is so talented!

pumkins with papacito

2008-10-24T20:59:00.000-07:00

Dad invited us to his office's Halloween pumpkin carving party. It's just tradition to carve pumpkins with Dad. He is known for his creative carving 'visions'. This year I think he was feeling a bit stifled by the kids' inability to 'get outside the box'... but he handled it well and the kids had a great time.

We just tried to keep Allison and Auburn busy eating cookies so they wouldn't run wild in the parking lot. It worked for about 5 minutes.

ghost of halloween past

2008-10-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

2004:Little German Boy

2005:Robin Hood

2006:Cowboy & Indian

2007:Pirates

2008: Oh.. the anticipation...

older & wiser

2008-10-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

For Troy's birthday we took a last minute mini road trip. We headed north to one of Arizona's hottest tourist spots...Payson. :) And we left no sight unseen. Our first destination was the old bike shop that you pass on the highway. We'd always wondered what the heap of junk was...and we found out it was just that. "30 years in the makin" the toothless woman told us. Over 10,000 bikes! She even let us climb the old car trailer to get an aerial shot. It was actually quite impressive, and once we started walking around we found that there was some semblance of order in the lot. There is just something cool about large amounts of things, collections of any random sort become novel.

Next we hiked Natural Bridge which was absolutely beautiful. We went all the way through this time since we didn't have the babies on our backs. Everything was so lush and green and the waterfalls made you feel you were somewhere exotic. We couldn't have asked for better weather and the company was ideal. It was fun just talking with Troy using uninterrupted sentences. We enjoyed lunch at a little roadside diner and walked through The Old Randall house. Then we went up to Pine and visited the graves of Troy's grandparents. Next we were off on the hunt for my "starter cabin"...unfortunately, it's just not meant to be...yet! :) After inhaling our brownie sundaes we headed back into the valley.

We stopped by Troy's office and I tried to do a little housekeeping while he worked, much to his irritation. Apparently setting up shelves and filing is not what he wanted done on his birthday. Go figure.

And no birthday would be complete without a trip to the local pawn shop. ??? Troy heard on the news, that with all this economic mess, pawn shops are being infiltrated with good stuff. So he wanted to go check it out. What makes this even more random is this is SO not Troy's style. First off, he doesn't ever buy anything, second, if he ever did buy something, he would know exactly what he's going to get, style, color, price etc. So randomly going to see what a pawn shop had to offer just threw me for a loop. But, it was his birthday... he ran the show (and I almost got a new platinum diamond ring out of the deal!) :)

It was a wonderful day overall and it was nice to remember how much we like each other when all the other stuff is taken away. :) We came home that night to happy kids and a worn out Karen...what a trooper!

Happy Birthday Heeney!

happy birthday cooper

2008-10-21T21:00:00.000-07:00

Heather & Colby are always so good to invite our crazy crew to all the fun birthday parties they have. We look forward to them even more now that we barely see each other. It's always nice (and rare) to have friends that both husbands and wives equally enjoy each other. They have been a unique find for us!

Cooper had a Thomas the Train party at Peter Piper Pizza. Ella could have ridden the rocket ship merry-go- round all afternoon. In fact, she did. Allison didn't mind joining her and took the turns quiet emotionless. Auburn wasn't going to go around that easy.. it was a scene of panic each time she got close to the rides. (Brielle didn't mind benefiting from her unused tokens!)It was a great break from the everyday routine and always fun to hang with the Bowers!

Happy Birthday Cooper!

dallin's dictionary

2008-10-21T10:11:00.000-07:00

just kidding /juhst-kid-EEng/, intransitive verb: it's what you say when they hear you saying something they don't like, so you don't get in trouble.

-Direct quote from Dallin to Carter

so you want to be president

2008-10-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

Some of my most favorite things are 1) when my kids eat vegetables 2) when my kids play creatively together and 3) when my kids are reading. So it did my heart well to see Dallin & Ella cuddled up on their grandparents' laps reading before bed tonight. Dad read them, So You Want to Be President. I love this book.. I find it interesting, informative and the illustrations are award winning. It's a bit longer than a little children's book, but I can usually cruise through it, on average, in 9 minutes. After checking the clock, I was sure Dad had moved onto the next book, it had been 34 minutes! But, no... he was still in there on the reading chair going meticulously through each page. 41 minutes... still reading. 53 minutes...are you serious?!! Finally the book closed but he then had to extend the story by showing the kids pictures of Mt. Rushmore on the internet. We were just shaking our heads... that's so Dad! Once again... luckiest kids alive! (myself included).

proof

2008-10-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

I never like to throw the kids' crafts away.. but nor do I like to store them in every nook & cranny of our house. So, I figure, if I get a picture for posterity, and to remind myself in years to come that I did play with my children.... once something breaks of finds its way into "file 13" there has been no long term harm done. Usually when we make things I tell the kids what we're making and we follow my directions, this time I just gave them popscicle sticks and glue and they were in heaven! Among my favorite creations were Ella's model of herself and Dallin's 4 wing-fighter.

chicken enchiladas with green salsa

2008-10-15T09:00:00.000-07:00

This turned out so tasty!

4 tablespoons canola oil
2 small zucchini, diced
1 small red onion, chopped
1 ear of corn, kernels cut off the cob (about 1/2 cup)
1 2 1/2- to 3-pound rotisserie chicken, meat shredded
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack
Kosher salt and pepper
12 6-inch corn tortillas
1 pound tomatillos, husks removed
1 jalapeño, seeded
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 cup sour cream (optional)

Heat oven to 400° F. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini, onion, and corn and cook, stirring, until the onion begins to soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.

Add the chicken, Monterey Jack, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Mix to combine.

Wipe out the skillet and heat the remaining oil over medium heat. One at a time, cook the tortillas in the oil until softened, 10 to 15 seconds per side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

Divide the chicken mixture among the tortillas, roll them up, and place seam-side down in a large baking dish. Bake until heated through, 8 to 10 minutes.
In a food processor, pulse the tomatillos, jalapeño, cilantro, lime juice, and 1/2 teaspoon salt until finely chopped. Serve the enchiladas with the salsa and sour cream, if using.

2008-10-14T09:46:00.000-07:00

Should I be nervous that Ella recognized Feist and her song, but had no idea who the Sesame Street monsters were?

pumkin patch

2008-10-13T21:00:00.002-07:00

We met all the Stapley's at the Pumkin Patch for FHE.

The girls loved the little chickies. And I'm sure Dallin & Ella had something they loved as well, only I wouldn't know because they were so busy playing with their older cousins, I didn't see them once.

twins mischief

2008-10-13T21:00:00.001-07:00

Why are white silk curtains the favorite hiding places for peanut butter and banana covered fingers?

lookin' for fun & feelin' groovy

2008-10-13T21:00:00.000-07:00

Karen did such a darling job on Carter's Tie-Dye Party!

She was brave to have so many little boys running around her house, let alone handling paints! They all did a surprisingly great job and their shirts turned out so "groovy"

They also made their own tie-dyed crayons and had psychadelic cupcakes. Good job K. Happy Birthday Carter.

the tuna sandwich

2008-09-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

Some years ago there was an incident involving a tuna sandwich. I don't remember the details, but it was along the lines of...newlywed being served lunch by her husband only to find out he had actually eaten all the lunch himself without considering his new bride and her hunger. Something along those lines. So as the years have passed...any time Troy forgets to consider me in food preparation or any fleeting desire I might have.. I remind him of the tuna sandwich.

Back story being told, Saturday I ran to the Dollar Store to pick up some things for Dallin's humanitarian project. While I was there I spotted large cans of IBC rootbeer. (I LOVE rootbeer!) So I bought one for Troy and one for myself. Later that day I drank them both. When Troy came searching for his afternoon treat he promptly called me on my "tuna sandwich" behavior. So to rectify my faux-pas, Monday morning the fridge was FULL of Troy's own personal stash of IBC rootbeer. I think I'm forgiven.

abc...easy as...123

2008-09-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

After two years of shuttling Dallin to and from preschool and having to watch from the car window, Ella was more than ready to finally get out of her car seat and go inside of Miss Christy's preschool. It will be extra fun because she already has friends to go with!

prima ballerina

2008-08-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

Ella has been so into ballet this last year; all she sings is the music from The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and any other classical music she hears. When she does her "ballet" that means she holds onto something (a couch, your finger etc.) and puts her leg out in an arabesque. So when I was driving her to her first day of dance she was quite put out that I wasn't going to be in the class with her so she could do "ballet". She finally decided it would be o.k. because her teacher would hold her finger. When I explained there were lots of other girls in her class and the teacher wouldn't be able to do that she looked perplexed and said, "then we need to go back because we forgot to bring our couch."

beat the heat retreat

2008-08-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

Looking at these pictures, they portray a peaceful serenity that you can only find in nature. Who would guess that the following picture is the antithesis of that serenity.

Allison & Auburn proved to have a loathing toward camping and the great outdoors. They screamed every time they were put down...leaving me with fried nerves and tired arms. I was trying so hard to have a good attitude and put on a good face, but I was miserable! It wouldn't be so bad if we were alone.. I was just extra sensitive with all the other families camping around us. So I spent the entire night juggling the babies trying to keep them quiet..an almost impossible task. It didn't help that it was a lot colder than I had anticipated and in packing for all the kids, completely forgot to pack for myself. So shivering, I finally loaded the twins in the car and put a movie on for them till the rest of the camp woke up. I LOVE camping.. but I'm pretty emotionally scarred after this experience.

Now to look on the bright side... Dallin and Ella were fabulous and all the other kids really took them under their wings. They loved finding rocks to add to the ever growing collection and digging in any sand pile they could find. They were filthy and blissfully happy!

2008-08-15T21:00:00.001-07:00

I'm still not emotionally ready to write this post. The fact that we strung Whitney's (& Bryan, Christopher, Bono, & Fritz) departure out for days and days did not help matters either. Whitney and Bryan are heading to Lubbock, Texas where Bryan will be starting law school. Although we are trying to act supportive.. we're not. We're selfish and want them here. But.. Que va hacer?

We started the marathon farewell Sunday with a Texas style dinner at our house. The kids even made a bunch of Texas flags to hang around the kitchen.

It was fun having everyone together... and I just love watching other people (Neil) try to do the twin thing. It makes me realize I have learned a few pearls of wisdom along the way.. like don't ever think you are going to sit down and enjoy your own glass of water with twins on your lap!

Monday consisted of Nertz. This has always been our family game. It's great when we play it at reunions or somewhere with others, because our family always dominates! But when it's just our family (the in-laws don't even bother trying to play anymore) it's pretty cut throat. We're not going for personal bests or anything like that, although we would recommend that for poor Dad who can't seem to keep his score in the positive. We are all just going after Karen. Now to properly give Mom her credit, she is the all time champion.. but somewhere in those lonely junior high years, Karen caught up. She would probably even be that good if she didn't cheat... but we'll never know now, will we?

Then Tuesday we went to Grandma's house before Whit left for the airport. We were just delaying the inevitable. Then it happened. We said goodbye.

I know this will be tough for Bit... first baby, Bryan's law school hours, and I know how much she loves to meet new people! :) But she's amazing...and always surprises me at how grown up she really is.

I think the real person I'm sad for is me. Yes, throw the confetti, I'm having a pitty party. Everytime I think of somewhere new I want to go or something I want to try I want Whit there with me. She's the one I consult before making any kind of fashion or design (not decorate) decision. And no one appreciates a great recipe like Whit. (although she is a food snob!) She is just a great little sis... Ok.. that was theraputic. I've gotta go now... gotta call Whit!

she has a wrinkly twinkly smile

2008-08-14T21:00:00.000-07:00

I have the best grandparents in the world. I do. My childhood memories of my Grandma Ella & Grandpa Bill are like fairy tale dreams. They lived in a palace with more rooms than I could count, winding staircases and hidden suites. They had a different room for each meal we ate. Waffles were served with at least three different types of syrups, fresh fruits and whipped cream. The grounds were like the Secret Garden, with walls covered thick with foliage and blooming flowers (all kept beautiful by Victor, the gardner, who always brought us Sees caramel suckers). Looking up from the tree swing you could barely see the branch you were gliding from. It was a fairy tale. Someday I'll write pages about it.

We were spoiled. Grandpa would take us on Donut Brigades and Grandma created an event out of anything we did. It truly was "always fun for everyone, when Grandma came". And actually, the reason I give the backstory, is to explain why my kids will be able to say they have the best grandparents in the world. My mom learned from the best.

On the first day of school Grandma Deney had an ice cream party to cool off her grandchildren's hard working brains. The kids loved to pick out colored cones and funky sprinkles. I'm sure their brains were sufficiently cooled!

An ordinary day...turned extraordinary.

Like only a Grandma can do.

k for kindergarten

2008-08-11T21:00:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I have a kindergartner! Dallin was excited to be a Franklin Firebird and didn't seem the least bit nervous. I, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck. Would he eat his lunch? Would he remember where his classroom was? What would happen when he had to go to the bathroom for the third time in ten minutes? We even had a practice timed lunch beforehand to make sure he could open everything and eat in the time allowed....it would be a miracle.

The first week was an adjustment. All-day school was a bit long for a little guy who still took naps! The first couple days I picked him up he was on one. He was irrational in his irritations.. "Why did you park in this parking spot." "Ella is looking at me!" "Why are the babies in those seats?" all said in the most ornery tone. By Friday I was convinced I was going to have to pull Dallin out of kindergarten and he would just have to start school when he was 8 or something. But as time has passed he has adapted and is doing great. His penmanship is awesome and it is fun seeing him learn all those phonograms just like I remember doing. OUGH: "o..oo..uf..off..aw..ow"..that's always been my favorite!

making lemonade out of lemons

2008-07-31T21:00:00.000-07:00

We got out and supported our local lemonade stand today. It was quite picturesque with the table and chairs under the shade tree, kids eating hot dogs & sno cones. (In real life it was sweat dripping down your back, give me more sno cones now...I don't care if I have to spend a dollar for shaved ice, hotter the Hades.)

Allison wanted to say prayers before we ate anything...what spiritual children I am raising! :)

create

2008-07-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to ween Dallin off of naps to get ready for all-day kindergarten. It's been kind of nice having some quiet time with just the two of us. This was today's creation...they are magnet mosaics...they take a while, but the end result is pretty fun!

This summer I set up a little "candy land" type game all down the hallway. When the kids listened this first time, were especially nice, or did anything that they should pretty much be doing anyway without all these incentives...they could move their little game piece forward. When they reached special markers along the way they had special rewards... movie night, extra stories, trip to the Jr. high pool, basically all things we would be doing anyway....but because it was on the game it was even more prized! (I love the psychology of kids!) The favorite spot on the board was "Craft with Mom". Both favorite of the kids as well as of mine. We had a great afternoon painting and the house miraculously just seems more peaceful when we're sitting down creating something together.

2008-07-29T21:00:00.000-07:00

hello?

full circle

2008-07-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

So I think Sum & I have the best set up around. Being childhood (& now adult) friends was so convenient because we lived across the street from one another. And now our children can enjoy the same convenience. We LOVE when Brookelynn & Brynlee come for the summers and we have even more excuses to go to Grandma's house. Dallin just adores Brookelynn and announced to the entire primary during his Spotlight that he was going to marry her in the temple when they were bigger. (I'm sure it hasn't even entered his mind that she'll be a good foot taller than he!) Swimming lessons together were hilarious to watch (and apparently traumatic to go through from all the crying & screaming beforehand). And we especially loved our "girl day" when Kacy came to visit. Somewhere in between all the fun Brookelynn got a hold of my camera.. not bad shots girl!

2008-07-10T21:00:00.000-07:00

Sergei Rachmaninoff & Ludwig Van Beethoven

in the making.

4th of July

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

We started off the morning with flag ceremony where Dallin led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. He didn't even ask who "Richard Stands" was! (When Whitney was little she asked Mom that question in reference to ..."& to the republic for "richard stands", one nation, under God....") And as all good summer holidays end.. swimming & a barbecue at Mom & Dad's!

We're lame about bedtimes and staying out too late with the kids... so we forgo the live

show and "spoil" the kids by letting them stay up a few minutes to watch the good fireworks on t.v. I mean how is Tempe Towne Lake supposed to compete with Boston Harbor?

2008-06-25T22:31:00.000-07:00

Christopher Maughan Jensen

Is he not the cutest baby ever? For some odd reason, I think I have anticipated this baby almost more than my own! I have just been so excited for Whit to enter the motherhood realm. (Maybe now she'll understand why I call her all the time because I have nothing better to do, and always have to hang up because I'm too busy to talk.)

His car seat turned out so cute.. I did work extra hard on it for my newest nephew!

I thought I could get some tender picture of my kids with Christopher.. whatever. But just as I was about to delete this picture it struck me as kind of cool.. I love that all the noise, the distractions around are just blurry compared to the quiet, peaceful clarity surrounding the baby. Hmmmm.. very reflective, let's ponder on that for a moment. :)

gourmet

2008-06-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

I don't claim to be gourmet.. but every once in awhile I bust out something delish. This pizza was a concoction of whatever I had in the fridge. (Although the picture does not do it justice.) Luckily I had some great stuff hiding in there... homemade pizza dough, fresh basil pesto, tomatoes from Mom & Dad's garden, and goat cheese. OK.. now I'm salivating.

bitty's shower

2008-05-31T23:00:00.000-07:00

Whitney's shower was actually a lot of fun to do. She was mortified at the thought of having so much attention (seriously, are we related!). But everyone came and the food was delish! We had a Curry Chicken Salad, Pesto Pasta Salad, a Goat Cheese Tart, Quiche, Citrus Slush, Beasties, and Judy's most devilish Orange Rolls. My mouth is watering just remembering it!

Wow Whit.. this better be a big baby! :)

Amanda & Rachel are always so good about coming to these things. You know they're just thinking, "These old ladies are just crazy!"

The dozens of lilies finally opened the day after the shower!

domestic divinity

2008-05-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

I wish I felt like this every time I did dishes...

Queen of my Castle.

I think tonight I'm going to borrow Ella's crown.

Instead I usually feel more like this!

memorial day

2008-05-26T21:00:00.000-07:00

I've always loved going to Marty & Marci's house for Memorial Day. Marci always has such a great spread and the kids all have a ball. A pretty fierce game of water volleyball usually takes all the adults attention while the kids are left to find their own trouble. This year it was soap on the trampoline. Dallin & Carter were in heaven!

Auburn & Allison hate the feel of grass. We were trying to get dinner on and it was driving me nuts going back and forth between the two making sure they weren't crawling into danger (the pool has no fence). So I found a temporary solution. I put them both on a grass surrounded step. It was so funny (ok, maybe just a little mean) to watch them stuck on the little stone not able, or willing, rather, to touch the grass to get off. Eventually Auburn got pretty mad and Allison thought it was funny. After a hug from Sis they made it work...at least till the hamburgers were off the grill!

dallin's preschool graduation

2008-05-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

Dallin just loved Miss Christi's Preschool. It was sad to see the two years end. (Although with all the boys in that class I'm not sure she was all that sad!)

He became part of a group she called,

"The Three Musketeers".

I loved picking Dallin up each day to hear all about Tate & Tommy. (Some days I dreaded it...depending on what kind of stories he was reporting!) Dallin didn't know a soul when he went to school, so it was fun to watch him make his own friends... and he stuck with them like glue. From the reports I got, you'd never know there were any other kids in the class aside from those three boys!

Carter & Ella came along to support Dallin in the grand accomplishment!

one

2008-05-17T21:20:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday Allison Gable & Auburn Harrison. I can't believe a year has gone by. And wow, what a year! I'm still catching my breath. Everyone always told me, "The first year with twins is all a blur." And now that it has come and gone so quickly I can see what they are talking about.. but yet in that blur I have some vibrant, clear memories and images that I hope will not go hazy.

*Remembering the color codes for who eats on what side on what day. (I would switch off who wore pink every other day. Whoever wore pink ate on the right.)

*Stacking my swaddled babies one on top of the other to carry them around in the middle of the night.

*The giant pink nursing pillow that we thought would plague our family room forever.

*The attention we got every time we carried around their pink and brown carriers.

*Having to explain to everyone "No, it's not a boy and a girl" even with pink dresses and bows.

*Clogging the halls at church with all the women that had to get a peak at the twins.

*Their blinged out Converse shoes.

*No matter how far away from each other I put them, they always woke up with their heads together.

Now that I actually try to go back and think of things, it is more of a blur than I remember... It has been a lot of work, so most of the memories are of trying to smile and laugh at the challenges that two babies pose (not always successfully). But coming into this next year I'm already dying laughing at how fun and silly these two are going to be and what a different dynamic it will be going through it with the both of them together.

We didn't do much for Allison & Auburn's birthday. (Dallin & Ella were both sick for their first birthdays.... so why mess with tradition, right?) But, since they share a birthday with Sydney.. we couldn't pass up a little cake mess! Karen gave them puppies that bark and flip.. a huge hit of course!

...and yes boys, you've been caught!

take me out to the ball game

2008-05-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

This was our first year of T-ball and it turned out to be a good sport for Dallin. It was fun to be on the same team as some of his friends, cousin, and the coolest coach around! (I don't know who was more into the game... Dallin or Troy!)

Dallin even made the "All-Star" Team.

When told, Dallin's response echoed our thoughts exactly, "How am I on the All Star Team?"

Not that being the smallest kid on the team means you can't be good... there are just so many kids out there that "get it" already...the sliding into bases, growling when they make an error, that"we will, we will rock you" competitive spirit. And Dallin's still following his mom's "cartwheels in the outfield" playing style...just havin' a good time.

So I liked how they chose the All Star players this year; instead of the coaches picking the best players, they let the kids vote for who they wanted to be on the All Star team instead. So popularity over athletic talent... sounds good to me! :)

Dallin's uniform was so big I decided to take in the seams a smidge... A smidge became so much that the team logo ended up being under his armpit instead of on his chest!

My favorite play of the game was when Carter was up to bat and made it to first base. The next kid up to bat hit it right down the middle where Carter was running to second. Seeing the ball, and sensing his perfect positioning, he stopped mid-run, caught his teammates ball, threw it to first and got his teammate out, then continued running to third. Karen had tears from laughing so hard. Way to go Carter! What a team player...

The Cheerleaders!

mella

2008-05-16T21:12:00.000-07:00

I don't have any cousins my age on the Farnsworth side... neither does Maryella. As a child, Maryella was very ummm.. "spirited". She must have been 6 or 7 and was giving everyone in the family fits at our reunion, so she became my special charge. Being a teenager and accused of the same "spiritedness" as Maryella, we bonded immediately. And I think we've had a pretty cool relationship ever since. Even though she towers over me now, and is this amazing young adult...I still like to feel like the "cool older cousin" who gets to hang out with Mella.

My kids were huge fans too when she took them swimming at GG & Gpa Farnsworth's!

baby proof

2008-05-13T10:02:00.000-07:00

I was delighted hearing such cheerful sounds come from the kids' room. Allison and Auburn love playing with the older ones and it was nice to have a minute with free arms to be productive. Well, the babies started pulling all the pajamas out of Ella's bottom drawer...Dallin and Ella found it so funny they joined in by pulling every article out of every drawer and making giant piles, burying the babies. The picture does not do the mess justice! Well, my productive minute turned into an hour of refolding and organizing drawers....with babies unfolding as fast as I could fold. And I wish this were an isolated incidence.

Sunday morning I was making breakfast and Allison and Auburn completely emptied the first two shelves of the pantry. As I was in cleaning everything off the pantry floor, they pulled out each DVD and video we own, and dumped them out of their cases. So I spent the next 30 minutes matching Book of Mormon videos to their correct cases. It didn't help that each time I would find a video-cover match, Dallin would decide that's the movie he wanted to watch and pull it out of the case...over and over. Meanwhile, the unsupervised toddlers have pulled out all the toy bins from their shelf and dumped them. Next, my jewelry from the bathroom counter, breaking yet another beaded necklace. I literally spent the entire morning walking from disaster to disaster. You would think after a few incidences I would lock them up or something.. (the kids or the cabinet doors - take your pick). I was spoiled with Dallin and Ella because they never got into things, so I never had to mess with those silly locks that are so annoying each time you need to open a drawer or cabinet. But I think it's time. We need to baby proof!

mother's day

2008-05-11T21:00:00.000-07:00

Dallin & Ella helped me make Roberta a

"Breakfast in Bed"

Mother's Day basket..homemade granola, zucchini bread and freshly squeezed grapefruit juice.

The last few Mother's Days have been quite memorable. Two years ago we had about 20 people from both Troy's and my family over for dinner and Karen was one day away from delivering Sydney. We were all so happy go lucky, we would have never known what the next day would bring.

Last year we had the same large group for dinner and I was days away from having Allison and Auburn. I craved Horchata, so we had a fun Mexican evening with Black Bean Enchiladas and Cinnamon Fried Ice Cream. We even had a small house fire when my darling luminaries on the table went up in flames.

This year our numbers dwindled and out of the 6 mothers we usually have in attendance, we only had one... ME! (Although, true to tradition, Whitney was close to having her baby as well.)

We also had Maryella and the newly engaged Christine & Josh, which was a special treat! We ate Angel Chicken and Rice, Bacon Wrapped Green Beans, a beautiful Strawberry Spinach Salad, and Coconut Creme Cookies with Sorbet...all prepared to honor our absent mothers. Happy Mother's Day.

coco

2008-05-03T21:29:00.000-07:00

Today was Cole's big Numero UNO!

Karis & Jace had the dance studio all decked out for the party. I'm sure Cole appreciated all the time and effort it took! :) We even dressed up for the occasion!

The kids had a blast in the little swimming pool... even though their skinny little bodies were convulsing with shivers.

They just love being around all those Stapley cousins! And they are growing (and multiplying) so quickly! (Congrats to Hilary & Preston)

Happy Birthday CoCo!

fathers & sons

2008-05-02T23:12:00.000-07:00

Not being there, I can only assume they had a great time. I was just glad they came home safe and actually remembered to take some pictures.

little whitney

2008-04-30T22:51:00.000-07:00

Just like their Aunt Whitney!

It's like they can sense from any part of the house when that dishwasher door lowers. They come crawling full speed ahead to climb up and help unload the dirty dishes I am desperately trying to load faster than they can toss out. Such big helpers!

kacy marie

2008-04-29T21:59:00.000-07:00

Kacy was visiting from Baltimore for just a couple days so we really tried to make the most of it!

They really are a dangerous threesome.. I'm so glad they have a least one female voice of reason between them.

I looked like I was driving a clown car unloading all the kids at the Tball game. Six children all in car seats..gotta love the minivan!

Ella loved having an older girl cousin to play with... So we made tutus and danced. I love the picture where Ella is just gazing at Kacy.. completely enamored! Kacy looks thrilled. (Tyler and Carter part II) It was even better when Sydney came and got her groove on!

We had a great time with Kacy and sent her home nice and sick throwing up with the stomach flu so she could be taken care of by her own mother. I love being an aunt!

super glue

2008-04-28T21:03:00.000-07:00

These are the casualties of just the last three days. And this doesn't include the mountain of magazines, books, boxes, etc. the twins have managed to gnaw through. Decapitated dolls, amputated heroes, assorted broken beads... can we just stop the breaking...please!

Where's the super glue?

sick kids

2008-04-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

I loathe having sick kids. The only thing worse than having sick kids is having to get stuff done while you have sick kids. I wish I would have written about this day right when it happened because me memory has blocked out the nightmare. All I remember is being in the middle of presidency meeting with screaming kids who were supposed to be asleep... having to leave everyone there watching my other kids while I took Miss 104.3 and Miss 103.5 to the doctor. I even gave the babies chocolate chip cookies just to quiet them down through the rest of my meeting. I did love that Dallin just wanted to rest all day in his bed. I have the recording of Great Aunt Erma telling the story of "Peasy & Beansy" on my computer so we hooked up the monitors so he could listen to her stories from the other room.

bounce- u

2008-04-13T20:56:00.000-07:00

Bryan was the hero of the weekend when he invited the whole family to Bounce U. Because his dad owns the place, we had it all to ourselves. The kids had a blast and the adults ended the night with some rigorous competition in the obstacle course. That's when the claws came out. There is no "brotherly love" (or sisterly, for that matter) in our family competitions. Karen had me hanging upside down over the wall by my ankle just to get ahead.. typical cheating Karen! And Troy and Bryan are still barely on speaking terms as to who won their match. :) We were all laughing so hard despite the scrapes and burns (and hurt egos for some.. not me of course, but some). Sydney always keeps things interesting and decided to throw up all over. Poor Karen looked a mess. But as always, she just went on like this happens all the time (which I guess, to some degree, it does with Sydney) They cleaned up and were back to party the night away. It's always more fun when Karen's there. And rain or shine, she's always there...

Allison loves bonding with Uncle Neil...

it's because they have the same hair cut!

(Maybe I should make him some headbands.)

2008-04-07T21:55:00.000-07:00

This Star Wars thing is such an enigma to me. It seems that once you've been exposed there is no turning back. You become completely indoctrinated with the names, creatures, transportation, weapons, and philosophy. And I don't think, as a family, we will ever be the same. Most day to day actions or comments are now compared to or assimilated with Star Wars. All after they'd only seen it once! (Yes, Ella is just as big of fan. We have to tell her every outfit is like Princess Leah or she won't have anything to do with it. Her motivation to brush her teeth is so they won't look like Jabba the Hut's.) It was classic when I went to pick up Dallin and Ella from playing with some friends, and Laura (mom) says "I didn't know your kids were Star Wars nerds too". Ouch. Is that what it has come to? Oh well, I guess we're in good company. All the brilliant minded 5 year olds I know are working out for themselves how "the Force" is related to life and the eternal pursuit of happiness! I love these Lego building sets!
Grandma Deney even made Dallin a Star War's blanket to replace his old one. (It was Troy's on his mission... yeah, time to move on!) Unfortunately, he didn't agree and so instead of eliminating the rag, he now has two blankets to sleep with.

sunday afternoon

2008-04-06T21:54:00.000-07:00

I remember being up at BYU and always loving conference weekend because it seemed that was the day the sun finally started to shine. Being an Arizona girl I would immediately ditch all the winter wear and jump right into shorts and t-shirts...a bit prematurely. So it was right on schedule that this conference weekend I was able to enjoy both the beautiful Utah weather and came home to a gorgeous Arizona evening. Dinner at my parents house ended outside on blankets and the hammock watching the kids (and dads) swing and wrestle. The perfect Sunday evening.

2008-04-05T21:54:00.000-07:00

This weekend was such a treat. I flew up to Salt Lake with Kris, Renee & Noelle. It was the first time leaving the kids for more than a couple hours... so the anxiety of getting ready about did me in... but after take off I was feeling great. We started chatting on the plane and I don't think our mouths stopped once until we touched back down in Phoenix...absolutely no exaggeration!

I am so lucky to work with such amazing women who teach me, inspire me, and know how to have a good time!

I am also so lucky to have Troy who was so willing to take on the challenge of parenting the kids alone. He refused to accept any help just to prove he could do it (yes, a bit stubborn!) and he did it! (And surprised me by having the house painted too!) He better watch out or this going out of town thing is going to look even more appealing!

It seemed the weekend revolved around food... Hires Big H, the Lion House, Beni Hana's, Krispy Kreme, Spaghetti Factory.. and on and on. The view from the condo was gorgeous. We stayed up until 3:30am talking and eating fresh carmel taffy & chocolate covered cinnamon bears (that we went to Trolley Square three times to get!) ... I felt like I was a teenager again gabbing with the girls!

Gardener's Village.

The entire weekend we were trying to find a movie to go to. Kris was our amazing chauffeur and Noelle our trusty navigator... Renee and I were just along for the ride. Four theaters later we found what we had been looking for..."27 Dresses", and the dollar theater actually cost a dollar! Imagine that.. and our feet didn't even stick to the ground.

And of course we enjoyed the wonderful General Conference where we were able to stand in the presence of our dear prophet and sustain him.

The rest of conference was a bit of a blur! :) It was definately hard to leave "our happy place"!

seconds anyone?

2008-03-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

Allison and Auburn love crawling into any random space they can fit... preferably the dirtiest corners our house (which gives them plenty of options). I think their favorite is under the table because after they are done throwing all their food off their high chairs they know they can crawl under the table later for seconds.. nasty!

a bunch of crazies

2008-03-26T21:41:00.000-07:00

Now that's some serious bedhead!

Good looks or charming personality? It really is a toss up!I walked in the family room because Dallin was laughing hysterically and saw Auburn tucked away in this little basket. It's nice that my younger children serve as playtoys for the older ones!

2008-03-23T21:36:00.000-07:00

easter morning

2008-03-22T21:50:00.001-07:00

Dilemma: How to get all the kids up and dressed for church and still have them enjoy their Easter baskets in the morning. This was my solution.

Happy Easter cute little Dallin & Ella
Do you think you have been a good girl & fella?
A basket is hiding for each of you.
All you have to do is find the next clue.
It will tell you the things you need to get done.
To get ready for Sunday and have lots of fun!
Go to Mom’s favorite place to read.
You’ll find the colorful egg that you need!

Get clean underwear on – that’s the goal.
Then the next clue is hiding in a bowl.

Eat up till you’re full. Don’t forget to clear your place.
Then look for an egg hiding in a suitcase.

There are clothes to put on – Quick! Hurry! Rush!
Then get the next clue that’s by a toothbrush.

When teeth and hair are sparkly and done
Go to the room we make music and have fun.
Enjoy your baskets and always remember when
Three days after his death, Christ lived again.

It worked like a charm. We had a lovely Easter morning and were even early to Karen's church where she spoke. The bliss lasted until nap time. I had already lectured Dallin and Ella's brains out about getting to sleep so we could go to GGs for Easter dinner. An hour later I came in to see both kids in Ella's bed in a giant fort they had made with all of their blankets. They had lined books around the edges of the bed and had every ball balancing on top. I about lost it.

Karen had once told me... if your kids ever do something that upsets you - take a picture - you'll probably laugh about it later. Oh, I was racing for the camera because I was furious! Our beautiful Easter morning had taken a turn for the worse as I had to hold to the predetermined punishment (I hate that!) and took away their Easter baskets. It didn't even phase 'em. Grrrr..

just because

2008-03-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

This was my "Just Because" project this weekend. Here's how it usually goes. I decide to make something and think it's so great that I want to do it in bulk thinking it would be a great business venture... then after inundating myself with supplies and hype, my momentum fizzles. I know Troy just shakes his head and doesn't understand why I do it... (or why my sewing room is full of tassels, car seats, aprons, frames, tutus etc.) so the blanket name I use for all my projects is, "Just Because". That's all there is to it.

After trying to buy car seat covers for Allison & Auburn I decided to "go custom"and have loved the seats I made my girls. The only problem with making them for others now is each time I make a new design I want to change mine... This one I actually made in record time. I have been cursing Graco because each seat I have made a cover for somehow has been a different size or shape.. resulting in a completely new pattern design. But I must have found them all, because this seat just seemed to fit the first time... Yea!

So if you ask why we ate cereal for dinner and why my sister had to fill my kids' Easter baskets for me and why I had all my children tangled in thread as entertainment.. I'll say..

Just Because.

little itty bitty whitty

2008-03-21T21:00:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Whitney!

The original Paul girls. (We missed Jean of course.) Pictures with this bunch is a riot... seems we all have something witty and funny to say right as they camera flashes. (at least we think it's witty and funny.. the picture taker most likely finds it silly and obnoxious) We all wanted to be next to Whitney's pregnant tummy so ours' wouldn't look as big!

All Whitney wanted for her birthday was to not be at work. So she took the day off and we did exactly what she wanted... nothing. And there are no other people I would love to do nothing with in the whole world!

Later that night the whole family came over to color Easter eggs and have "Dad's pancakes"!

Dad was the man of the night making his pancakes which deserve a post of their own. They are a large thick crepe filled with cinnamon and powdered sugar... lots and lots of butter. Oh delicious... I'm craving them now! He even did his own dishes.

Easter egg dyeing usually consists of the kids doing a few and then Dad and Whitney taking all night scheming up their creative egg masterpieces. Those two were seriously cut from the same mold!

Hyper Dash is Mom's new favorite game for the kids... running around, hitting things, noise... they loved it!

This is all we have to do to get our home evacuated after a party!
Bottom's up to a good time!

the next marth stewart

2008-03-21T21:00:00.000-07:00

So I have been just waiting for an excuse to try these darling little things. So finally Whitney's birthday rolled around and I busted out the cake pops.. I obviously couldn't execute the directions as described.. so they turned into balls instead of cute cupcakes. Oh well. Nobody thought they tasted good anyway. So I was left with all these cake pops in my fridge.

And as luck would have it... they tasted better with age. So I got to enjoy all the cake pops myself. I just went to Bakerella to get the picture of her cupcakes and found out they going to be featured on Martha Stewart on April 3rd. So maybe I can learn how to make them the right way!

stapley easter celebration

2008-03-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

It's amazing that anything could be this organized when so many kids get together... but down to the smallest detail, Roberta has it planned out and ready. We just have to show up, follow instructions (of which I rarely get right) and enjoy.

This year we made Easter service baskets for different families. Well, I should say, Hillary made service baskets while we ran around eating jelly beans or something.

The kids made fun cookies with Gma where all the ingredients have to do with Christ and Easter... (they are like meringues that are hollow in the center... just like the tomb was empty on the third day... cute huh?) Another Hillary contribution.

(this post should be called "Hillary saves Easter")

After lunch and an Easter egg hunt there was Silly String.. I mean what's Easter without Silly String, right? I don't think the kids had nearly as much fun as the boys.

And after over twenty tries.. this is the Easter shot we came out with today. Let me introduce you to my sweet children, "Really Mom?", "Ouch, pain", "Huh" and "Lala Land". Thanks for playing kids! Maybe next time.

grandma gifts

2008-03-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

Ella's blanket is disreputable. It started out this darling heirloom piece I made for her before she was born and has turned into a flimsy rag. So Mom decided she needed something to replace it. I agreed and started researching cute fabrics. Unfortunately Mom and Ella got to the fabric store before I did and came home with this gem. Fortunately it was only big enough to make a pillow instead of an entire blanket. Mom was equally horrified at the tackiness so insisted her pillow be stuffed with down feathers to compensate. Sooooo Deney! I walked in after Mom gave Ella her new pillow and she was already taking a nap with it on the floor in front of the fridge. Another Grandma success...you're the best! (upcoming posts.. Dallin's obnoxious Star Wars blanket, smocking for twins, and "they'll be so easy" (until the zippers break) matching dresses for all the granddaughters).

work it dallin

2008-02-29T21:00:00.000-08:00

Dallin received his first phone number from a girl! And as you can tell from his ear to ear grin.. he was quite tickled! Every time I turned around he was somewhere with the phone trying to call the little girl from preschool. I don't think I'm ready for this!!!

welcome to the jungle

2008-02-22T22:00:00.000-08:00

Dallin turned five and is going bananas! Dallin's monkey party turned out really cute. Dallin had so much fun running his invitations around because they were real bananas with little monkeys attached to them. He thought that was pretty funny. I thought it was just creative genius! :)

The kids played 'Pin the Banana on the Monkey'.. which I should remember never works for kids this age because they have an aversion to being blindfolded or closing their own eyes. Almost all of them put the banana exactly on the monkey's hand... amazing huh? :)

Gavin looks like your normal darling doesn't he with that sweet smile. But not when you put the pinata stick in his hand! Troy saw him as his executioner. Gavin had such a wild strong swing it almost decapitated my poor husband a few times.

So my monkey pinata proved indestructible after the multiple beatings it received... What can I say.. I make some pretty quality stuff around here! Troy ended up breaking the thing open so the kids could get their treats.

The party was fun, but after all was said and done, I realized (again) that they just don't care about all the "frills". They would have been just as happy playing out in the yard eating rice crispie treats (store bought ones at that!). But as long as I understand that all the fun themed stuff is for my own enjoyment.. it's all good.

happy birthday dallin..my little monkey!

january 24, 2008

happy birthday ella

2008-02-22T21:00:00.000-08:00

This is how Ella's morning started. Her bib says it all.

Moody. Cranky. Adorable. Luckily Grandma stopped by. She gave her a birthday card that sings "I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream..." from Sleeping Beauty. Have you ever wondered how many times you could open one of those cards and hear the lovely recorded tune over and over and over before the batteries actually died and gave you some peace and quiet? Let me tell you.. more than a couple hundred. But after day 6 of "walking with you once upon a dream" it gave up the ghost. Thanks Mom! I'm not big on characters of any kind... so Ella's idea of having a 'My Little Pony' cake about made me nauseous. But.. look at those big brown eyes... could you say no to them? My Little Pony cake it is!
Ella has such darling friends. They were being attacked by the boys and had to run and hide together in the corner. You can see the look of terror in Ella's face!

Get used to it girls!

My little Ella is something else. She has more personality in her little pinky than most in their whole body. Troy & I find ourselves constantly shaking our heads thinking, "What have we got ourselves into?" She's just a sassy little thing and we wouldn't have her any other way!

happy birthday ella bella!

the dentist

2008-02-21T14:32:00.000-08:00

1st dentist appointment! Well, I guess for Dallin it was technically his second. His first consisted of screaming and crying so hard that they asked me to take him home and come back in a year.

This go around we opted for a pediatric dentist that loaded them up with toys and stickers. Dallin did great this time. Ella, not so much. She kept whining loudly the whole time for candy. Nice.. all the dentists are looking at me like she's saying a four letter word. She proceeded to take after her big brother and we will be taking her back next year instead.

This is actually Ella's birthday.. but she doesn't know it. We had so many different things going that day that we just told her it was the next day. No harm done.

Happy Birthday ellabella

february 21, 2008

the napping house

2008-02-19T21:00:00.000-08:00

I am one of those lucky moms whose children all still nap. Yep... all four down at 1:00 up at 3:00. (when all the stars align, of course) But today all four of them were on one. It was NOT the "Napping House, where everyone is sleeping" .. which resulted in one quiet car ride later that afternoon when they all cashed out. Too bad we were only dropping off the dry cleaning so the beloved nap time lasted all of 10 minutes.

president's day

2008-02-18T21:00:00.001-08:00

It was such a gorgeous day outside. It was nice to have Troy home to help take the whole family on a walk to Grandma & Grandpa's house. That morning we had gone to the gym. Troy did a step class with me. Yes, Troy in "Step Challenge" (Summer, is the visual just hysterical?). Initially I was a bit embarrassed, ok more like mortified. I kept pleading for him to just go lift weights or something where he wouldn't make a spectacle. But Troy lives for spectacle! He stuck it out in step.. and to my amazement, did really well. The teacher kept referring to him as "the new stud in back". So after a grueling workout, the little "stroll" to and from my parents became a bit more challenging... not to mention pushing the limo stroller with Ella riding on top of it and carrying her big wheel that she was too tired to ride.

We spent the evening at Marty & Marci's where Allison & Auburn had their first bites of ice cream!