welcome to the jungle

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

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

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

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

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!

thank you

Karen sent us a little thank you note that Carter illustrated. Dallin saw it and wanted to write one back to them. In fact he wanted to send an exact copy back to them. I love that he even embellished his letters like Karen did. The funniest part is that this picture is actually just one of several identical copies he created over the next couple days. Each time I picked up another paper off the floor it was yet another replica of "the thank you letter". Thank You Karen!

february 13, 2008

at the farm

I took the kids to Killian's farm down the street and tried to get some pictures for our Valentine cards. (We decided to change it up a little from the traditional Christmas cards...that's us, always breaking the mold!) Unfortunately it was freezing and windy and they weren't too fond of sitting on cold mud.. although Allison loved eating it!

We went back later that evening as the sun was going down and the kids had a ball feeding the horses and stepping in all the fun smelly stuff that farms provide! The final product in miniature. february 7, 2008

matching game?

So I tricked Ella into thinking this was a great matching GAME!! She figured it out pretty quickly and I was left sorting socks alone.

february 5, 2008

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comedian

We were just waiting around before Dallin went to bed and all of the sudden Auburn just started laughing so hard! It was the first time we had heard her do that.. and realized she was laughing at Dallin. I don't even know what he was doing that she thought was so funny... but it was so cute!

you are my hero

We all made the trek out to Queen Creek to watch Karen finish her 1/2 marathon. We had the whole cheer squad in force... noise makers and the whole bit. Unforntunately Karen (Speedy Gonzalez) had finished the race 15 minutes prior to our arrival. I was fuming! (Flames on the side of my face...like Brook would say) But I was so impressed at how awesome she did.

K: You Are My Hero!!

february 2, 2008

valentine's day

So I wondered why I didn't hear the babies wake up crying this morning.. and why Dallin & Ella were having so much fun together giggling on the other side of the house. Well I should have known the two rarities would be tied together somehow. All four kids in a crib, quite a sight! Now if I could just teach them to change & feed the babies after they've woken them up and entertained them, we'd be in luck! These were the little Valentine's I took to some of my friends. They are white chocolate oreo truffles (so easy but so evil). But then I decided they needed cute little personalized boxes to go in. It was one of those projects that you know going into it that it's not worth the time you are about to invest... but you do it anyway. It was kind of like a challenge though.. just to see if I could actually materialize what I had in my mind...centering the graphics just right so when I folded the box everything would be lined up... ok, I'm a bit compulsive but....

not so much when it came to this. So they look pretty scary.. but Dallin & Ella seemed to think they were the best Valentine cupcakes ever... so good, in fact, that they devoured them and didn't even mind that they were actually meat loaf frosted with mashed potatoes & sprinkled with peas. yummmm.
The night ended with red ice cream cones! Good idea Troy!

valentine's day

I know it's been 9 months since my last post... I could have had another baby in that time! (with my track record, I'm surprised I didn't!) But this year I would like to be better at journaling our family's escapades... starting today.

The kids were so coordinating I thought that would merit a photo shoot.

Note to self... it doesn't matter how cute they look.. photo shoots where you are out-numbered 4 to 1 is never a good idea. BUT... I have a memory of today on my blog.. thus I am able to check something off my list.

Now I am off to deliver Valentines!

double trouble

Auburn Harrison & Allison Gable

They're here! The twins were born May 15th both weighing 5lbs. 11 oz. We couldn't be luckier..they were taken c-section and arrived healthy and everything went well.

Although the babies are fraternal, in the hospital we couldn't tell them apart at all. Troy was paranoid they would lose their hospital ankle bands (they were so skinny they kept falling off) and we would never know who was who. Since we've been home they've put on some weight and we can now tell them apart. (although I still get it wrong half the time) Allison has a rounder face and Auburn's is more narrow. (yeah, I'm sure Allison already has a complex being "the round one"!)

They have been really good babies which makes doing the twin thing not only do-able, but actually enjoyable. (knock on wood!) As long as I keep a sense of humor I'm ok.. if it's not laughter it would be tears! (I said it was enjoyable, not easy!!) Like at the o.b. last week when I had both babies screaming in the exam room. I was trying to hold and comfort both of them at the same time while holding the little lap gown around my bare self with my teeth to maintain some kind of modesty in case the doctor walked in.

Like I said.. I have to laugh or I would be in tears! Overall it has been a great adventure so far.. hopefully this blog will be an outlet for me to share some of the fun craziness!

These beautiful pictures were done by my photographer friend, Amanda Stephan. Visit her website and book her for your next photo event! (nice advertising job huh?! I love you Amanda!! ) http://www.amandastephan.com

my first try

so i thought now might be a nice time to take up a new project.. because my two crazy kids and upcoming birth of twins just wasn't enough for me! :) let's see how it goes! sandra