Peterson Posts

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T20:17:00.001-07:00

Here's some pics of us in our Easter BEST! My mom made all the girls their dresses (Thanks! They are SO cute!) I made their hats.

We took some pictures before church and then after we got home I went out with the girls to try and get a few more of just them. The bishop stopped by and we chatted for a second (about how excited I am to go get some plants for the backyard and garden--he just opened a nursery.) When he left (we were talking for less than 5 min.) I rounded the girls up to take them inside..the pictures were not working out (Esther was crying and Hannah/Wynnie were complaining!) As I turned to get Sophie I noticed she had something in her mouth (It still makes me sick thinking about it!) Anyway, she was sucking on a syringe...have I mentioned I LOVE this neighborhood...I guess I shouldn't say that you can probably find them just about anywhere..I should say I LOVE "people" (if you want to mess up your own life go for it BUT leave my 2 1/2 year old out of it! Throw your TRASH away...and just for the record my front yard NOT a trash can!!!) The needle had the cap on and didn't appear to be used (THANK GOODNESS!) but it still has me scared...I've been in tears a good portion of the night with all the what if's! We called the hospital and they told us we could bring Sophie in for testing if we were that concerned about it (shouldn't we be? my child was using someones drug needle as a sucker!) they also told us we could call the police and have them come out and look at the needle and see what they thought (We had already talked to our friend Paul who is CSI and he said he didn't think it looked used but he's paranoid and would probably have her checked anyway.) In the end we decided to go with prayer and a blessing. I'm going to call and check with Sophie's pediatrician in the morning and see what they say. I feel better about the Sophie situation BUT I'm still pretty annoyed with "people"! It did give us a good opportunity to sit down with the kids and talk to them about drug use and how we NEVER touch needles...and tomorrow Jeremy will finish our fence!

Here comes Peter Cottontail!

2009-04-11T20:14:00.000-07:00

The girls had a fun time finding their Easter baskets and all the eggs the Easter bunny left.

The girls each got a new outfit and water bottle...and a little candy...although it was hard for the Easter bunny to leave them candy...I hear she's on a diet!

Easter Egg FUN!

2009-04-10T20:32:00.000-07:00

Today we went to my mom's to color Easter eggs! The kids had a fun time (as always) coloring eggs (and making a mess!) It was fun to hang out with the family.

Sophie brought me this egg and then said oops and dropped it (totally on purpose) so she could eat it!

After coloring the eggs we had a Easter egg hunt in the backyard:

And of course my mom bought YUMMY, delicious, sugary, goodness...which I couldn't eat :(

Work in the yard

2009-04-04T21:54:00.001-07:00

Today while we listened to conference we decided to work in the back yard...we are desperate to have it done...a sanctuary for us to go to to get away from our crazy neighborhood! We have part of the fence done (it's looking great!) and Jeremy made our planters for our square foot garden. So today we went out to arrange everything...it was real easy to imagine how it will be when it is done...now if we can just get it to that point! The girls came out to help...they like digging holes in the backyard! We were only out for about 10 min. and then, like every conference weekend, it started to snow! It was only REALLY lightly snowing but the girls said they were cold and needed to go in for hot chocolate. So we left Jeremy out to work and headed inside!

Here's some pics of Jeremy and the massive roots he has been chopping out of the fence line!

Hair cut!

2009-04-03T20:48:00.001-07:00

Sophie thought Jeremy was in need of a trim so while he took a nap on the rug she cut his hair!

She was being SO cute...she has definately been watching Aunt Ellie...she would comb through his hair and then lift it up in her fingers and cut...very professional! Before you go thinking A) we are bad parents (letting our 2 1/2 year old play with scissors) and B) Jeremy's sporting a "cool" new haircut (a bald spot in the back) Sophie was using the TOY scissors from Hannah's doctor kit!

We did, however, sit down with her and let her know that she was NEVER to cut hair with real scissors...let's hope she listens!

What a JOKE!

2009-04-03T12:40:00.000-07:00

I started this new (I REALLY hesitate to use this word but here it goes) diet a couple of days ago (I hesitate because it's not really a "diet"...it's more of a change in eating style. I'm not restricted in how much I eat just what I eat...and no it's not a NO carbs diet...although right now I am working to clean up my intestines--I have WAY too much yeast growing there so for the next 3 weeks while I "spring clean" my guts and get rid of all that extra yeast from 30 years of not eating right I can't eat any gluten or diary! After that I will de-junk my liver and as soon as it starts working correctly I will be able to have whole grains and dairy back...that is the goal!) Anyway, the whole reason I bring this up is as I looked at the calendar today I realized that I started all this on April Fools day (how fitting!) and after going to the grocery store with my 6 year old and having her beg for some Peeps I realized what a awful time of year to be stuck eating veggies! I want to look at myself in the mirror and say "APRIL FOOL'S...have a peep (or 2, or 3!)" BUT I won't (because I just looked in the mirror!)

Let's go fly a kite!

2009-03-28T21:36:00.000-07:00

Today our ward held the 2nd annual (in five years) kite flying day! We all met at the park to fly our kites and eat a little lunch! It was a fun afternoon...even if there wasn't very much wind! The kids had a fun time flying their kites and playing on the playground.

We left early so Jeremy could come home and work on the fence. Since it IS his birthday I figured I should let him do what he wants...and he wants the fence up! It's coming along great! We have one whole side almost done!

Here is a pic of Jeremy's work station:

I'm so glad we have that bathtub he can use as a saw horse!

We are now trying to plan out where we will put our garden! Wynnie and I watched a video on square foot gardening and while they were out "helping" Jeremy her and Hannah made this box for our garden. I'm pretty impressed at how well she listened and remembered!

Getting ready for Easter!

2009-03-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

Today while we were out visiting Grandma and Grandpa the kids helped them decorate their tree with Easter eggs! Easter is going to be here before we know it (I sure wish the weather would get that memo and warm up a bit for us...I'm tired of the cold!) At least it was warm enough for us to be outside...and who doesn't have fun when Grandpa gets his ladder out?

the MUMMY house!

2009-03-26T19:43:00.000-07:00

Here's Wynnie's latest creation:

It's a MUMMY house. I LOVE the masking tape mummy...that girl is SO creative!

Hannah's tooth!

2009-03-25T20:18:00.000-07:00

Hannah finally lost her other bottom tooth! It's been REALLY loose for quite a while and today while she was wiggling it it started bleeding so I grabbed it and YANKED it out. It actually came out really easy I just held on to it and tugged a little and it fell out! Now if she can just lose her top two she will catch up with all her friends!

2009-03-24T20:28:00.000-07:00

I took the girls (Sophie and Esther) to the doctor today (for their well visits--I know, I'm a little late!) Sophie has been so unpredictable lately (a real powder-keg: fine one minute and lashing out the next) so I wasn't looking forward to the whole doctor experience. When I had scheduled the appointments (almost 3 weeks ago) I planned on sending Jeremy with the girls so he could deal with it but he went and got sick (he has strep) so that left me to handle any outburst from Sophie (and I just knew there would be at least one!) Sophie must have known that I was worried about how she would act because she was on her best behavior for the whole appointment! She was really a little angel...she talked to the doctor and let him examine her...without complaint (which is the important part!) and she handled the shots like a champ! I was REALLY surprised. She just sat there and let the nurse give her the shots...she didn't cry, didn't flinch, I think she may have even smiled at the nurse! She had been wanting a band-aide (they checked Esther's iron at the beginning of the appointment so Esther had a band-aide on her toe and finger and Sophie kept asking for one. I told her "You'll get a band-aide...your not going to like it BUT you'll get a band-aide soon") I don't know if that is why she sat there or if we were just having a really good Sophie moment but it was nothing like I had imagined! Now Esther on the other hand...she passed out when they gave her her shots! She's done it a couple of times before. When she's in a lot of pain she will hold her breath and then she will just go all limp...it's kinda scary! She started holding her breath as soon as the nurse gave her the first shot (she had to have 4...poor baby!) The nurse kept saying "Come on baby breath" but Esther waited until the nurse was all done with the shots then she took a deep breath and her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she passed out! I immediately shook her and said "Esther!" then she opened her eyes and started crying again! The nurse was really concerned she kept asking if Esther was ok and telling me that she has never had anyone do that before. Since I have experienced it with Esther before I wasn't as concerned...I still hate it when she does it...I hope she grow out of it soon!

{side note: I think Esther is going to overtake Sophie soon with her weight. At this appointment Sophie weighed 28 lbs and Esther weighed 24 lbs!}

Home

2009-03-24T19:22:00.000-07:00

Last night for FHE we talked about the difference between a house and a home. We explained to the girls that a home had your family, love and helping. Today I had an empty box sitting on the counter (ready for the trash) and Wynnie took it (she LOVES making things.) She came to me later (after A LOT of work) and showed me the home she had made. She told me all about the family and love and was able to tell me most of what we had learned the night before. It's nice to know that they are learning. Sometimes as we are wrestling the girls and going through the actual motions of FHE I wonder if they are even listening or "getting" any of it--it's nice to know that they are!

I'm Lovin' it!!!

2009-03-23T21:03:00.000-07:00

My mom didn't have to work today and the Thompson boys are off track so she made plans with Hannah to bring Brew, Evrett, and Wynnie to eat lunch with Hannah at her school. Well, we woke up this morning to snow (I guess winter isn't quite finished) and my mom HATES to drive in snow she also had slept on it and (I believe) had her wits more about her and realized that she didn't want to wrestle all the kids in Hannah's cafeteria! She asked if we could take Hannah out of school and she would take all the kids to McDonalds for a lunch/play date (a venue much more suited for kids running around being crazy!) So we had a fun afternoon with Grandma, Grandpa, and the Thompsons!

Spring DIRTY-ing!

2009-03-21T21:59:00.000-07:00

We started the day Spring CLEAN-ing. My house is in desperate need of a good scrub! I have been busy and had a case of the winter BLAH's and have basically just let it go...so today was the day I was to catch up on my cleaning (we were almost suffocating in the dirty laundry that has piled up all around the house!) About mid-day I got a call from Mechelle wanting help cleaning off her back porch. Apparently the spring cleaning bug has bitten her as well (actually she suffers from a bad case of spring clean fever...I think it may be terminal...she is ALWAYS cleaning...and no one gets things cleaner than Mech!) She offered us lunch--grilled hot dogs...how could we say no? So we headed down to her house for some hot dogs and some clean-up fun!

The kids had a fun time with their bike helmets...they had been lost out on the back porch and we found them during our clean up. They put them on and wore them as they played in the backyard!

The kids were having fun in the dirt! They would shovel it into their pails and then carry it to the top of the play set and dump them out! Esther became a victim of this senseless dirt dumping as she fell asleep in the swing and the wind carried the dirt to cover her! I went over to take a cute picture of her sleeping in the swing and she was covered in dirt! I asked Wynnie and Bruce if they had put dirt on Esther and they told me No that they were just dumping it off the top of the play set...with grandpa's help Wynnie determined it wasn't their fault it was the winds fault!

Sophie did a good job of getting herself dirty! I was visiting with my mom and when I looked over Sophie was on her belly rolling around in the dirt! Where is this girls mom?!?!?

As we put the girls in the bath and the water turned to mud it was apparent that although this day started out all about CLEAN it definitely ended up DIRTY!!!!

IKEA

2009-03-20T20:40:00.000-07:00

Preschool was supposed to be at my house today, however, yesterday I got the IKEA ad in the mail and they had these stools on sale:

We need new stools for the kitchen....so we planned a field trip...to IKEA!!!

It was a lot of fun! Mechelle, Marnae, and I (and our kids) headed down this morning at 8:30 am! We met one other mom down there (none of the others could come...which just means we will definitely have to plan more trips!)

We didn't get home until 3:30pm..it was a full day of shopping, visiting, and fun! The kids got a little cranky at the end (OK 3 or 4 or more of them were screaming their heads off...we got some looks! We were TRYING to leave...it just takes an hour...that store is huge...and it's a maze...they like to trap you in there!) But it was still fun!!!

This is what your car looks like when you leave IKEA:

And this is what your kids look like:

Let's make some MUSIC!!!

2009-03-19T22:59:00.000-07:00

A couple of ladies in our ward started a music group for our kids (Music Makers.) It is SO fun...the kids have a blast going each week. They learn new songs, dance around, play instruments, and learn finger plays. I'm so glad they started this group! It's a chance for us to get out of the house and have some fun with our friends! The kids look forward to it each week and come home and sing the songs non-stop!

I had to take a video and show how cute the kids are when they dance around...enjoy!

Thanks Suzie and Marnae!

Fun with Science!

2009-03-19T20:25:00.000-07:00

Hannah has been getting ready for the science fair. She decided to grow crystals and has been working on her project for a couple of weeks now. Today was the BIG day. She did an awesome job! Here's some pics of the process.

Hannah was supposed to do the project by herself (as much as she could...we helped her with the boiling water but she did the rest) Notice in the pictures how Jeremy is keeping a watchful eye on her...it was SO hard for him to just stand by and watch! I had to keep reminding him that it was Hannah's project...he wanted to jump in and do it himself...not because Hannah was doing a bad job just because it was science and he wanted to be involved...I told him we could grow him some crystals later!

SUN....

2009-03-18T19:19:00.000-07:00

Oh, how we have missed you!!!! It was so nice to be able to play outside today and enjoy the sun! It is nice to have spring finally here! The kids enjoyed playing on the swing set at Mechelle's.

The girls were all having fun going down the slide--making trains.

They kept calling for Bruce to come join them but he was busy throwing the toy car around on the rocks! He told them that he was busy fixing the car--such a boy! Pretty soon the girls left the swing set to help Bruce "fix" the car--anything you can do I can do better!

Bobbie and my dad were out working on the boat (both of them VERY excited that it is finally almost boating season again!) So of course the kids had to climb up and take a look at the boat!

When they got back down Sophie grabbed a paper towel roll from the ground and started "spying" everyone..."I see grandpa...I see Wynnie...I see Mommy..."

Something Green!!!

2009-03-18T14:41:00.001-07:00

After all the cookie making we headed out back to play on the swing set and enjoy the nice weather!

While we were out back we found this lizard! Actually it is Mechelle's tenant Shane's lizard. He brought it out to show the kids. They all loved it...Preston was giving it kisses and Hannah even let it climb on her back--amazing considering a few weeks ago she was scared to death of a few butterflies!

St Patty's Day Cookies!

2009-03-18T14:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to Ellie's to make St Patty's cookies! Mechelle and I had been looking at Bakerella's site and found these cute chocolate mint cookies that looked delicious so we thought we would give them a try! What we found out was A) they WERE delicious and B) We are NOT Bakerella! Hers looked so cute and professional and (as you will see in the pics ours didn't!) Anyway, we had a fun time with the kids and got some good treats to eat--even if they didn't look good!

Green Milk!

2009-03-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

The leprechauns got to our milk again!

The funny thing is as we were eating the girls were talking about the green milk and Jeremy looked down at his bowl and said "Is the milk green?" Keep in mind he is the one that got the milk out of the fridge and poured it into our bowls...just saying it was definitely green!

Lucky Me!

2009-03-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

I love these guys!

Happy St. Patty's Day from our little leprechauns!

Airplane Museum

2009-03-14T09:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday for Wynnie's preschool we got to go to the airplane museum. It was fun. The kids had a great time walking around looking at all the cool planes!

This was a fun little airplane car that the kids got to ride in...they loved it...all but Esther, she didn't like it very much (as you can tell by her face!)

They have this fun interactive area where the kids got to play with all sorts of plane related toys. They all had a blast. The volunteers were so nice and helpful. I've been to the museum lots of times and I never even knew this area existed!

The kids had a lot of fun dressing up like Top Gun and flying in the airplanes!

Ahoy, Matey!

2009-03-11T17:46:00.000-07:00

I do this coupon thing (I'm not totally committed to it yet so don't ask!) Anyway, it means I get 5 Sunday newspapers which means we have a ton of newspaper hanging around the house! My girls are into this "recycling" phase...not the "lets throw our empty cans and newspaper in the recycle bin" recycling but the "we need to make something new out of this garbage" recycling...it's kinda driving me nuts! Wynnie has been making "things" out of the newspaper (mostly just cutting it up into a mess!) Today she wanted us all to make pirate hats...who knew you could have so much fun with trash!

Superstar!

2009-03-11T12:34:00.001-07:00

I was not excited about potty training but Sophie is doing so well. She has had a couple of accidents but overall she is using the toilet...she even got me up at 1:45 am last night to use the bathroom! I'm not very excited about the interruption to my sleep (especially since Esther just started sleeping through the night) BUT at least I know Sophie is understanding the concept! I guess when they're ready they're ready!

BAM...just like that it is winter again!

2009-03-09T19:07:00.000-07:00

When we looked out our window this morning this is what we saw:

and it hasn't stopped! It has been snowing ALL day! Just when I thought we were done with the white stuff for the season! That's one of the downfalls of spring: one day your outside playing without even wearing a jacket and the next day it looks like this!

Here's how it looked when Hannah got home from school at 3:30 pm...still snowing!

Here's how it looked after dinner (7pm) It finally stopped snowing but look at all the snow on my car!

Presenting our new piano!

2009-03-07T22:08:00.000-08:00

Hannah has started piano lessons so we figured it was about time we got a piano (I've wanted one for years...I really wish I could play...one day I'll take lessons!) Anyway, my mom told us we could store hers but it doesn't have a cover for the keys and I know my sweet 2 and 1 year old would drive me crazy...they LOVE to bang on the piano keys...and my nerves just can't handle the noise! So we found one on KSL that has a nice cover for the keys...maybe now I can keep my sanity (who I'm I kidding it's been gone for years!) We went down and paid for the piano a week and a half ago and I have just been waiting until Jeremy had some time (and the weather cooperated) to go pick it up...Well, today was the day! It feels good to have a piano in the home. The color goes perfect with all the wood work in our house and it was built the same year our home was finished (1909)...Happy 100th birthday piano...Happy 100th birthday house!

It's in their blood!

2009-03-07T13:20:00.000-08:00

My girls LOVE to draw! Love may not even be a strong enough word! They LOVE, LOVE, LOVE (to infinity plus one!) to draw! They MUST draw! For a long time now no paper has been safe in our house...the girls quickly snatch it up and fill it with their lovely drawings! Jeremy's work papers, newspapers, envelopes from the mail we just brought it...it doesn't matter what it is if it is paper they will (and do) draw on it. They even snatch paper from each other. If Hannah is drawing a picture and she leaves (even for a minute to say go to the bathroom) when she comes back Wynnie will be drawing on the back of the paper Hannah had before she left...it's crazy...it's an obsession...I don't think there is a cure...so we just keep supplying them with paper! It's an endless trail from the dinning room table (where they draw) up to the office to snatch paper from the printer! When I was down at IKEA I found this:

I LOVE this for sooooo many reasons! It keeps the girls busy drawing up in the toy room so my dinning room table is no longer the Peterson girls art studio...LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that! The first day I put it up Wynnie disappeared for hours (I'm sure Hannah would spend an equal amount of time up there drawing; however, she spends most of her day at school--probably drawing!) Now instead of fighting over paper (or stealing each others paper) they work together on drawings...the paper is big enough that they can both sit at the desk and work together! The paper IS big but we just take a picture of their picture and can keep it forever on the computer without having to store tons of pieces of paper! The rolls of paper are huge (about 120 ft--I think) and are pretty inexpensive (about $5)...I think this will be a nice solution for the drawing addiction at our house!

Here's a sample or their art:

Ready or NOT!

2009-03-06T11:13:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure I'm ready for this (actually to be honest I'm definitely NOT ready for this) but apparently my 2 year old is so we are entering the world of Potty Training!...I hate this world! I know I am going to LOVE it when I don't have to spend half the grocery budget on diapers and having two in diapers is a challenge BUT I HATE potty training!
My experience with Potty Training hasn't been too good. With Hannah I bought a book "Potty training in a day"...can it get better than that! Anyway I followed the instructions (although it broke my heart...it is definitely a "tough love" book...I was more of a drill sargent than a mom...I even made my little 2 1/2 year old cry...more than once...it was awful!) By the end of the day (like the book said) Hannah was telling me when she needed to use the toilet and was "accident free"! The book stresses that you DO NOT put your child back in diapers, even for bed and I hadn't thought anything of it until it was time for bed and all I had was diapers! So I left the kids with Jeremy and ran to the store for some pull-ups. When I got back Hannah had had 2 accidents! I was devastated...I had been such a mean mom all day and for nothing! I went to bed defeated thinking I had just wasted my whole day! In the morning when Hannah got up she told me when she needed to go to the bathroom and has been potty trained ever since...it really worked! When it was time to potty train Wynnie I wasn't up for the whole "drill sargent" method...it was an emotional roller coaster and I just wasn't up for it. I tried to incorporate a lot of the techniques but I wasn't as strict as I was with Hannah. Well, for those of you that know Wynnie she is a tad bit (VERY) stubborn. Part of the process was to get your kid to drink a ton of liquid (water, milk, juice, whatever they wanted and LOTS of it!) This gives you more chances to "train" them because they will have to use the bathroom more. Anyway, I gave Wynnie a TON to drink but she was SO stubborn that she refused to go potty. I kept asking, we kept "practicing" but she didn't go...she didn't have any accidents either. I wasn't sure what to do (part of the process was "shaming" your child when they did have a accident so they learned not to...the book didn't say what to do if your child refused to go to the bathroom!) I just went about the "training" as best I could until finally at about 5:00 PM she fell asleep on the kitchen floor! She proceeded to wet herself..and I couldn't get mad (although it was a TON of pee!) because she was asleep and had no idea what she was doing! We went through the rest of the night about as productive as the first part was. The next morning Wynnie came up to me and put her arms around my neck gave me a BIG squeeze and asked me if she could PLEASE have her diapers back...so I let her! To my defense I was 6 months pregnant with Sophie and I had heard that older siblings can have issues reverting back to diapers once babys come along so I didn't want to have to "train" her twice! I just asked her when she would be ready to be a "BIG" girl and go potty in the toilet..she told me when she was 3 and she kept her word! Once she turned 3 she started using the toilet and has been good ever since! I really liked that method…letting her tell me when she was old enough…until today! When Sophie told me that she wanted to start using the toilet I thought REAL hard about just ignoring her...I don't think I AM READY (it’s all about me…right…not her…who cares if she is in diapers until she is 20!) She's not quite as old as the other 2 were when I tried with them but I guess we will she how it goes...cross your fingers and wish me luck!

Potty training update: I just put Sophie to bed and it was a tie she had 3 accidents and she went potty in the toilet 3 times! I’m not really liking these odds…if she asks for her diapers back in the morning I just might give them to her :)

Spring has Sprung!

2009-03-04T22:01:00.000-08:00

At least for my 5 year old! When we were in Midway for our anniversary the girls stayed with Mech and Aaron. They did A LOT of fun things: went to Antelope Island, went to Hardware Ranch and saw all the Elk, and planted a tree...at least THEY thought they were planting a tree! What they did was got a dead branch off the ground and dug a hole and stuck it in...then they watered it...and now they think it will grow! Wynnie just loves this "tree"! She shows it to everyone and her and Bruce take care of it! I'm not sure what's going to happen when it doesn't grow...but right now it makes her smile...and that makes me smile!

Here's Bruce and Wynnie taking care of their "tree":

Wynnie was using the brush to paint blossoms on the tree!

Midway trip (yes again!)

2009-03-03T12:50:00.000-08:00

It's so great to be able to get away! Nancy and Gary came into town on Friday and took Hannah and Wynnie with them up to see Great Grandma Theobald in Idaho. Hannah and Wynnie got to spend the night and met lots of new friends (they had a party and there was about 8 kids Hannah and Wynnies age!) On Saturday Jeremy had to show some homes in Provo/Draper area so he dropped Sophie, Esther and I off at IKEA (I heart IKEA!) I told him we had food, bathrooms, toys for the kids to play with and LOTS and LOTS of shopping we could do (he was going to be leaving us for a couple of hours-which for IKEA is about the right amount of time...it is HUGE!) After Jeremy was done we headed up to the town home in Midway to meet Gary Nancy and the girls. We were able to spend a relaxing weekend with them, it was great! On Monday Jeremy and Gary went skiing (I've been uninvited to attend the annual ski trip...not that I want to go anyway...last time was WAY too painful!) I was able to spend the afternoon swimming in the pool with Hannah and Wynnie! It was a GREAT weekend!

Noodles, or is it snakes, for dinner!

2009-02-25T21:46:00.000-08:00

Tonight we had noodles for dinner and I just had to post some of the cute things that were said at the table:

Wynnie (holding a noodle up in one hand and then running her finger and thumb from the other hand down the noodle): "First you skin it...then you eat it!"

Wynnie also liked making a long mustache out of her noodles by hanging the ends out of her mouth!

Sophie (holding up a LONG noodle): "GIANT food!"

Sophie also kept calling the noodles snakes...apparently my girls like eating snakes!

Don't fence me in...I mean, DO...DO fence me in!!!

2009-02-24T21:42:00.000-08:00

Work on the fence continues...and continues...one day we will be done...and we (and our stuff) will be safe from the outside world!

Jeremy is now working on the gate at the end of our driveway (that will one day lead to our garage...one day!)

Surprise!

2009-02-22T21:19:00.000-08:00

Jeremy and I went away to Midway this weekend to celebrate our anniversary (I can't believe we have been married for 9 years!) While we were there we went to some antique stores and found a shark tooth for Hannah and some fossils for Wynnie and Sophie. We also were bringing back the girls Christmas present from Grandma and Grandpa Peterson (an AWESOME doll house!) When we talked to the girls on the phone Saturday night we told them we had a surprise for them when we got home (they were missing us!) {Side note: Mechelle told us that when they were going to sleep Sat. night the girls got scared and she overheard Hannah telling Wynnie that she could say a prayer and that would make her feel better so Hannah and Wynnie said a prayer together and were able to go to sleep...I love my girls SO much!}

After our phone conversation "the surprise" was all the girls could talk about. When I talked to Mechelle she told me they were trying to figure out what it was! Hannah's guess was that we were bringing Grandma and Grandpa Peterson home and Wynnie's guess was that we were bringing Barack Obama home (where did that come from?)

When we got back we hung out at Mech and Aaron's for a while and the girls kept asking for their surprise! When we finally got home we gave them the surprises and while it wasn't Barack Obama or their Grandparents it didn't disappoint! They loved their gifts!

Nancy painted all the rooms in the doll house...SO CUTE!

Here's the girls reaction when the first saw the doll house:

On Safari...

2009-02-20T21:12:00.000-08:00

We watched Izzy today and Wynnie was kind enough to take her on a Safari Adventure! They made a camp under the dinning room table and as I listened from the other room here is the conversation I heard:

Wynnie: Izzy, we are on a adventure!

Izzy: Yeah!

Wynnie: We need lunch.

Izzy: Yes

Wynnie: We have to eat this snake....but don't worry, it tastes like chicken!

Happy Valentines Day!

2009-02-14T21:11:00.000-08:00

We LOVE you!

Play it again, Hannah!

2009-02-11T20:40:00.000-08:00

Hannah started piano lessons today. A really nice and talented lady in our ward (Jessie) will be teaching her. When we were down in Texas Mitzi taught Hannah how to play Mary had a little lamb, I Thank Thee O God for a Prophet and Joy to the World. She caught on really fast and plays the songs every chance she gets so we decided it was probably time she took lessons. I'm sure she will do great!

done, Done, and DONE!

2009-02-09T20:49:00.000-08:00

I feels like it has taken FOREVER but we are finally finished with the paint in the girls room and the hall! Now I can work on getting my house back! Mech, Aaron and my dad were a BIG help in getting us re-motivated and helping with the work! I love it...it is SO nice not to have to look at the UGLY stripes in the girls room and the bright green walls in the hall! Here's some pics:

Hallway BEFORE:

Hallway AFTER:

Stairs BEFORE:

Stairs AFTER:

Girls room BEFORE:

Girls room AFTER:

Happy Groundhogs day!

2009-02-02T20:33:00.000-08:00

(and happy birthday to me!) I spent the day cleaning up our MONSTER of a mess from scraping the wallpaper and mudding the girls room and the stairway! Isn't that how every girl wants to spend her birthday? I don't even think I showered! But the good news is we are that much closer to being ready to paint...It WILL happen some time this week!

I've been so busy I don't even know what "the Groundhog" did this morning, but if he's anything like me he saw his shadow then climbed right back into his bed and went to sleep!

Look, he is like me! (Jeremy will tell you this is what I look like in the morning! Especially if he is trying to cuddle with me while I am trying to sleep!)

Super Bowl Sunday!!!!

2009-02-01T20:20:00.000-08:00

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL!!!!

I haven't really been THAT into football lately (actually it's probably been more like the last 9 years or so...I guess that's what happens when you marry someone who's not a real sports fan.) BUT, Super Bowl Sunday is still a chance to celebrate: watch a little football (it never hurt anyone to watch a little football...even Jeremy can sit through one game a year with me), eat a little (or A LOT) food, spend time with family, laugh at all the funny commercials (although, the commercials are getting less and less funny!)

We went over to Holly and Brett's to watch the game and even though I'm not a fan of either team playing (the Steelers and the Cardinals) it was a good game (I would have liked it better if the Steelers would have lost but my team didn't make it so whatever!) The kids had a fun time playing! Wynnie and Evrett had their own Super Bowl in Holly's hallway...it was cute!

After the game we celebrated all the Jan/Feb birthdays (Holly, Wynnie, Esther, and me!) and had cake and ice cream! It was a good day spent with the Fam!

2009-01-31T20:13:00.000-08:00

We spent a week in Texas...it was great! Wonderful company, awesome weather...we didn't even need our jackets most of the time! We kept ourselves busy and had a ton of fun!

Here are some of the highlights:

Jan 23rd:

Here we are at the airport...getting ready to leave for our big Texas adventure! Taking 4 kids with us to fly stand-by wasn't as bad as we had anticipated. Everyone was very nice and accommodating. At first they had us seated all over the plane...one seat here, one seat there, another one WAY over there! Jeremy went up and explained our situation (2 crazy parents trying to travel with 4 children under the age of 6!) and they gave us new seat assignments (closer together) and then once we were on the plane the other passengers were more than willing to trade seats so we could sit together (Jeremy sat with Hannah and I sat across the isle and down one row with the other three) I think they saw us coming and thought "I don't want to be stuck on a plane for 2 1/2 hours next to all those kids!" The kids did wonderful on the plane! We had packed snacks, coloring books, barbies, paper, pencils...we were prepared! I think they would have been fine without any of that...they were excited to be on a plane and more excited to be going to Texas!

Jan 24th:

We headed over to Jared and Mitzi's to see their new house! It was still under construction last time we were here! It's really cute...they've done a great job decorating! Then we let the girls play at the park (thanks Ali for all the way cute pictures! You can tell she misses the girls...I think she took over 400 pics of them playing at the park!)

The girls got to do a coffee filter art project with grandma!

Just hanging out having fun at grandmas house!

The girls found Nancy box of costumes so they had a fun time dressing all of us up!

Jan 26th:

Jared made these canoes (he actually built them in his garage...pretty amazing!) So we took them down to the river for some fun! He even made a little one just the girls (and Mitzi's) size!

While we were down at the river we made some S'Mores...YUM!

Jared even made a sail for the boats so you could take them sailing!

Jan 27th:

We took the girls to the butterfly museum in Houston (the boys went to the car show!) The girls had a great time looking at all the displays and reading about all the bugs but when we went into the atrium they were scared to death! Mind you the atrium is filled with BUTTERFLIES...oh and moths, but mostly little butterflies...B-U-T-T-E-R-F-L-I-E-S! Not man eating butterflies just normal pretty butterflies that tickle when they land on you like this:

My girls couldn't handle it...they screamed like...well, like little girls and wanted to leave soon after we entered! I made them hang out for a while hoping they would get used to the butterflies but as soon as they saw a butterfly anywhere close to them they would scream and hide behind someone! I tried explaining that they were just HARMLESS butterflies but that didn't work either! Then we saw this:

It's an Australian walking stick. And it's a little (A LOT) creepy! My girls...didn't scream! They didn't want to get close to it but it didn't get nearly the reaction that the scary butterflies got!

When we left the atrium they had a play area for the girls...they loved it! They got to learn about bugs without having to be around any moving ones! They had a wall that had butterflies "flying" on it (it was a movie screen with butterflies projected onto it) and the girls loved dancing around with the "fake" butterflies...just don't ask them to be around any live ones!

After the fun day in Houston (at the butterfly museum and car show) we went to the park to play baseball with Maggie! It was fun to be outside and run around! The girls had a lot of fun and Maggie just has way too much energy!

Jan. 28th:

Grandma helped the girls make party hats out of paper plates! There are plenty of art crafts when Grandma is around!

After that Hannah and Wynnie got to help Grandma Nancy make Esther a birthday cake!

Then they got to attend Nancy's art lesson. They had a great time. They got to learn about doodling and then decorate their own pair of flip flops!

After dinner we had a birthday party for Essie! I can't believe she is one! We had a great time. She loved her cake and enjoyed opening her presents!

Jan 29th:

Mitzi took us down to a nature trail. It was nice to walk around and look at all the cool "swamp" nature.

The night before we left Hannah's tooth was REALLY loose and I was afraid it might fall out in her sleep so I wiggled it around and it fell out! She has joined the ranks of all her friends who have lost teeth! She was really excited! She has been waiting for this day for a long time!

Jan 30th:

Jared got to fly our plane home...how cool is that! Mitzi came on the flight too (she was coming to Utah to visit her family.) It was great to have her help! Hannah and Wynnie insisted on sitting by her which meant Jeremy actually got to sit by me...so nice to have his help with the two little ones! Once we got to SLC Jared took the girls up to the cockpit! It was neat to see...it looked really complicated...lots of buttons, and dials, and levers...I'm glad Jared knows what he's doing!

We will miss the company and the weather but it's always nice to be home! (Even if it is a mess...because we started a crazy home improvement project then went on vacation!)

I have some fun videos of our trip too but this post is already WAY long so I will try and post the videos later!

Beauty Palor!

2009-01-22T13:56:00.000-08:00

The girls have been wanting hair cuts for a while and we leave for Texas in the morning so we headed over to the Thomas Beauty Parlor tonight! The plan was to cut Hannah and Wynnie's hair...they both wanted it short then Hannah changed her mind and just got a trim. Wynnie wanted her hair cut like Ellie's (but we did it a little longer so I could still pull it up in a pony for gymnastics.)

Here's their before and afters:

Aren't they cute!

Well, that should be the end of our hair cutting adventures; however, our hairdresser is a little pushy and she snatched Sophie up and shaved her bald! Not actually....what she said was "You know Sophie's hair is the one that NEEDS to be cut...come on Sophie lets cut your hair" and that is all the invitation Sophie needed (of course she wanted to be like her big sisters and get her hair cut!) I was having a hard time with it...I knew she needed a hair cut but I didn't want to loose all her curls...I love her curls!!!! I'm just the mom and don't get a say when it comes to all things hair...that is aunt Ellie's department so to the sadness of my heart Sophie got her first hair cut!

She looks absolutely adorable...but the curls are gone!

Looking for snow!

2009-01-19T20:30:00.000-08:00

Hannah didn't have school today so we headed out for the hills! We wanted to get at least one more day of sledding in before we head to Texas (warm weather here we come!) It's been kind of warm the last few days (for winter in Utah anyway) and our normal parks don't have much snow on the hills anymore so we went up the canyon looking for snow. We were told there was great sledding up Trappers loop so we loaded up and headed off! When we got to Pineview we saw some parachutes over the water/ice so we stopped to see what was going on. When we got out of the car we saw two people para-skiing across the ice. We watched them for a while...it was really cool! Hannah and Wynnie told me that they wanted to try...I told them we would have to wait and see!

We headed back up the loop and found lots of snow, but no place where people were sledding so we headed back to the park in North Ogden that we went to last week. The hills we were on last week were now grass but the big hills on the east still had snow so we got to get our sledding in (finally!) We had fun...there was only one wipeout!

Here's a video of the para-skiers...really cool...we may just have to try this out someday!

Here's a picture of the wipeout...

Shark Teeth!

2009-01-15T23:00:00.000-08:00

Hannah has been obsessed with losing her teeth. It all started about a year (or more) ago when her cousins and friends started losing their teeth. Here are some of the MANY comments Hannah has made to me about losing her teeth (It is a very popular subject in our house...we talk about it at least once a day):

"Why haven't I lost any teeth yet?"

"All the kids in my class have lost their teeth"

"Mom, look my tooth is loose" said in a VERY excited voice. (On further inspection the tooth is not loose...not even a wiggle!)

"EVERYONE has lost teeth but me!"

"We need to brush my teeth more...so they will fall out!"

I try explaining to her that she is one of the youngest in her class and that she has very strong teeth and that as a baby she was really late getting her teeth in but this doesn't matter to Hannah. The only thing that matters is that she still has all her teeth.

So when she came to me tonight and told me that one of her teeth was loose I thought "Yeah right...I've heard this before" But I humored her and checked it out and to my surprise the tooth actually moved! We got excited...Hannah finally has a loose tooth! I told her to let me check it out and when I looked in her mouth this is what I saw:

To be honest it freaked me out a little bit! After doing some research I learned that "they" call it shark teeth and it is quite common. Everything I read said that her baby teeth should just fall out and then the permanent teeth will move on up into place. But for now we are having fun with it...her new nickname is shark teeth!

Bye Bye Tonsils! (and Adenoids)

2009-01-14T20:51:00.000-08:00

Today was the big day...Wynnie got her tonsils out. We arrived at the surgical center around 9:00 am. Once they took her back I think Jeremy and I waited a total of maybe 10 min in the waiting room and then the nurse came and got us and told us they were done (that's like $300 a min!)

The doctor told us that the surgery went well and that Wynnie had some of the biggest tonsils he had seen (the biggest by far for that day!) With Hannah's surgery they kept the tonsils in a cup and gave them to us, but we didn't even get to see Wynnie's. I guess now they just get rid of them during the surgery. I know some will think it is gross but I think it is interesting to see them...especially since our girls have such big tonsils you look at them and think "How did these even fit in your throat?" The doctor just made a circle with his thumb and first finger and told us they were this big...he seemed impressed.

They then took us to Wynnie's recovery nook (she didn't have her own room it was just a big room with different areas sectioned off for each patient.) There was another girl (about Wynnie's age) on the other side of the room and she was screaming her head off (for about 1/2 hour we had to listen to her screaming for them to take the IV out--I think you can hear her in one of the videos.) Once Wynnie woke up she was a champ!

She recovered really well (she ate 4 Popsicles--one of every color they had-- and probably would have eaten more but it was time for us to go!) They gave her a barf bag for the ride home. I showed her what to do with it and she promptly stuck it to her face and left it there for the whole ride home. She kept telling me (every min or so) "Mom, I didn't throw up yet....Mom, I didn't throw up yet..." Once we got to my mom's (to pick up the girls) I carried Wynnie in and she told me she didn't feel well so we headed to the bathroom and just in case you were wondering one purple, one blue, one orange, and one green Popsicle when mixed together turn brown.

After that she did fine and is just resting now! I'm sure she will be back to her normal self soon (they say kids recover really quickly!)

Hairy Carrots!

2009-01-13T22:01:00.000-08:00

The girls wanted to help me make dinner tonight. They are going to be excellent mothers when they grow up. They are always wanting to help me cook, clean, take care of the babies...they just want to help. So, I put them to work! Tonight I let them peel the carrots while I cut all the veggies up. It was so cute to listen to them. Wynnie was washing the carrots and handing them to Hannah who was peeling them:

Wynnie: Here Hannah (as she handed her a carrot)

Hannah: Wynnie, do you want to help me shave the carrots? It's real easy, you just take this thing and shave them.

So I got Wynnie another peeler and she helped Hannah shave our carrots! I'm so glad...I hate hairy carrots!

FYI: Sophie's job was to eat the carrots and Esther was on clean up which means she played with the brooms while we worked! And if you'll notice Wynnie is still wearing her Skeleton girl outfit--she didn't want to take it off! I finally got it off of her when they took baths tonight but she did ask me if she could put it back on after...I told her that we needed to wash it!

Skeleton Girl!

2009-01-12T19:18:00.000-08:00

A few years ago we got this book:

and Wynnie saw this picture:

Ever since then she has asked (even begged) if she could have an outfit like the girls. I kept telling her we would have to see if we could find one. Then she came up with the idea that we could just buy black pants and a shirt and paint them (she really wanted this outfit!)

After Halloween this year I found one at the store for 60 cents so I snatched it up and was going to give it to her for her birthday, but I forgot! But then I remembered (today) so I pulled it out and told her Happy Late Birthday! She LOVED it! She wanted to put it on immediately and then asked me if she could sleep in it (of course!)

Eat more chicken!

2009-01-11T22:22:00.000-08:00

I think my adversion to red meat might be affecting my kids. I don't like red meat, therefore I don't eat red meat (I haven't ate it since I was about 11), therefore I don't cook with red meat. It's not like I don't let my kids eat it when we are out to eat or over at someone elses house if there is red meat there my kids are free to eat it...if they want...which they ususally do. I just don't like the taste so when I'm trying to figure out what to cook for dinner it's not on my top 10 (OK it doesn't even make the list!) and I don't think to cook it...because it's not what I would want to eat. Well, apparently I'm quickly becoming out voted in my house. My mom had an extra ham that needed to be cooked (Well, I guess just warmed up...because they already come cooked...right...a little weird...don't get me started...) Anyway, Holly had already left moms house and I was there so I got the ham...not my first choice for dinner but I figured Jeremy and the girls would enjoy it...and boy was I right! At dinner tonight Sophie kept scarffing (is that a word?) down the ham. As soon as we would put it on her plate it was gone! Then she would scream at us "More CHICKEN!!! MORE CHICKEN!!" To which Wynnie would say "It's not chicken, Sophie, It's Turkey!" (my kids think all meat is chicken or turkey.) Total I think Sophie ate like 8 helpings of ham! I probably need to start cooking red meat for my family! It was pretty cute! Here's a little clip so you can all enjoy our wonderful dinner:

Guess what we did today???

2009-01-10T22:17:00.000-08:00

Is it really much of a guess?...I know you can hardly wait to find out...the suspense is killing you huh?...OK I'll tell you...today we went SLEDDING! Can you believe it?

We went with the Thompsons, the Birds, and the Harlans. The kids had a GREAT time (as always!) We went to a new hill up in North Ogden and it was fun! I really need to invest in some decent sleds for us if we are going to keep this up (3 times in one week!)

Boots anyone?

2009-01-09T10:12:00.000-08:00

Here's what our entry way looks like these days:

...Well, not exactly...Jeremy came by and put all the boots in a nice little row...normally they are just thrown in a huge pile! Along with all the coats, snow pants, gloves, hats, etc.

I haven't quite figured out how to keep them looking "neat" but at least they are handy to keep us warm when we go outside!

Sledding Part II

2009-01-08T22:21:00.000-08:00

The girls have been dying to go sledding again and we had made plans to go with everyone (the Thomas', the Thompsons, the Harlans, the Birds, the Hansens) today but it was REALLY warm! We weren't sure if there would be any snow left on the hills but we needed to go to the store anyway (and I didn't want to break my kids hearts) so we decided to stop by and check...this meant it only ended up being the Thomas' and us but we had a great time! The grass was showing through in a couple of spots but it was still fun (and BONUS it was warm enough that we didn't freeze our fingers off!!) I think my girls were born to sled...they absolutely LOVE it!

Drop and give me 20 (or 1,000!)

2009-01-07T21:19:00.000-08:00

Jeremy taught the girls how to do push ups tonight (he was trying to use up some of their extra energy before bed time!) They were really cute so I thought I would post a clip of them "exercising" (if only it were that easy!)

Once there was a snowman...

2009-01-07T20:11:00.000-08:00

Today it warmed up a bit so the girls and I went outside to make a snowman! The girls LOVE being outside and they had a great time making the snowman! It didn't take them long to start up a snowball fight...Sophie was the funniest to watch! She would grab a chunk of snow and then toss it and it would only go a few feet! She couldn't hit anyone, but she sure had fun throwing the snow! Sophie also kept telling me "Sled, mom, sled" and then she would go sit on the snow and try and push herself across the lawn...it was so cute...we need to take her sledding again!

Wynnie's Wonderland Party!

2009-01-06T20:40:00.000-08:00

Today we had Wynnie's birthday party! When we woke up it was snowing--perfect for a snowman birthday party, but then it kept on snowing, and snowing, and snowing--not so perfect if you want anyone to come to your party :) It's a good thing we invited a bunch of die hards who didn't let a little snow get in their way!

A couple of months ago Wynnie asked Mechelle if she could have her party at Mech's house. She was tired of ALWAYS having her party at our house...Hannah didn't have to have her party at our house (we usually have Hannah's at a park because it is warm) and Wynnie didn't want to have her party at our house anymore...so she made other arrangements...which made it easier on me! So after we got ready we packed up and headed to Mechelle's to decorate the cake and get things ready. After several failed attempts to make frosting for the cake (who knew it was so hard to make frosting) we threw the cake in the garbage...you don't NEED a cake at a birthday party right? Just kidding, luckily Mechelle had some store bought frosting (Betty Crocker, I'm a failure...but at least I keep you in business!) Although, the cake didn't turn out anything like the vision in my mind at least the kids all recognized it as a snowman which was a plus because on more than one occasion that day I felt like throwing the thing across the room!

Once the kids all arrived we made snowflakes out of flour tortillas (thanks to Nancy for the great idea...the kids all loved making the snowflakes....and eating the tortillas!)

After that we made treat bags, played pin the nose on the snowman (This was the one game Wynnie wanted to play and she even drew the snowman and all the noses!) We also played "Cold Snowman" our version of "Hot Potato."

Then Wynnie opened her presents and we had cake and ice cream. It was a great party...I know this because Wynnie had a smile on her face the whole time...that's what matters right?

Look who's walking...

2009-01-06T12:01:00.000-08:00

Today at Wynnie's birthday party Esther decided she would start walking. She stood up and just started going! She is really good with her left leg but she's not quite sure what to do with her right (Jeremy thinks this is a sign that he will finally have another left hander in the house!)

I see dead people!

2009-01-05T22:06:00.000-08:00

Today I was lucky enough to hitch a ride with Mechelle and Aaron down to Salt Lake to see Body Worlds 3 (they were going down to an eye appointment for Aaron.) This is the last week it will be here and I really wanted to see it! The older two girls were funny about me going. For some reason Wynnie thought I was going to work and she would tell people "Mom is going to work at the body museum" and then she would make a funny face! And when Jeremy took Hannah to school she asked him why I had to go look at the bodies...It's interesting...that's why!

Dad was nice enough to watch Wynnie and Sophie and I took Esther with me--she was my Body Worlds Buddy! We got down there at about 10:30 am and didn't get out of the exhibit until almost 1:30pm! There was A LOT to see...I probably could have stayed longer but not with two babies (Mech and Aaron had Preston too.)

It was very interesting and informative. Lots of stuff I already knew from school but it was really neat to see everything (unfortunately they didn't let us take cameras in so I couldn't take any pictures.) I have always found the human body so fascinating...it is just an amazing machine! It was cool to see it at work in the exhibit!

Happy LUCKY birthday Wynnie!

2009-01-05T07:58:00.000-08:00

Today Wynnie turns 5! I can't believe how fast time flies! The girls have gymnastics today so we decided to have Wynnie's party tomorrow...I will post more on that later! I'm so blessed to have such wonderful girls! Wynnie is such a help to me! She loves to help out with her sisters (especially Esther...she is like a second mom to her!) She has such an amazing imagination...she is able to go into her own little world and have amazing adventures. I will often hear her talking and when I peak in the room to see what she is up to she will be involved in an elaborate game with her dolls, toys, and sometimes even with just using her hands as puppets! Wynnie is definitely an entertainer she likes to be in the spotlight and she loves to make people laugh!

I can't believe how big she is getting! A couple of months ago she came up to Jeremy and told him he needed to teach her how to read. They have been working on it a little here and a little there but I'm sure she will be reading before kindergarten! She is excited to be in school (like her sister) but was kind-of sad that she'll have to wait until fall (in her mind she could start school as soon as she turned 5--she asked me this morning when she got to start school and when I told her in the fall she almost started crying!)
Wynnie can always make us smile...I'm so glad she is in our family!

SNOW fun!!!

2009-01-03T19:47:00.001-08:00

Earlier today Mechelle called and wanted to know if the kids and I wanted to come play in the snow. We were knee deep in paint flecks and wall paper scraps (from scraping the walls in the girls room) so I told her probably not today. Around lunch time I was more than sick of scraping the walls so I called Mechelle and told her maybe we could go sledding after the kids took naps. When the kids woke up we headed off to sled--it was almost 4:30 so we had about an hour before sunset--which was more than enough time for our little ones! Sophie and Preston got cold and started crying so we spent some time in the car while the others finished sledding. Sophie LOVED sledding I think I just need to get her better gloves. Her hands were cold but it broke her heart to stop sledding and get in the car. She kept telling me "Go down, GO DOWN!" Hannah and Wynnie had a blast! They were sliding down the hill on their bottoms then they turned over onto their bellys and slid down like penguins--laughing all the way! Wynnie even grabbed one of the sleds and went down by herself! I couldn't believe it! It scared me at first. She was going so fast but Wynnie wasn't scared at all...you could hear her laughing the entire way down! Hannah even went down by herself.

I have to tell you a little about the sleds we have. A couple of years ago my dad gave them to us and now I know why--you start out going down the hill fine but no matter what you do the sled will turn itself around so you end up speeding down the hill backward! The girls loved it--it makes for a fun ride (personally I prefer seeing where I am going!)

Of course the tears came when it was time to go! I think the girls would have stayed there all night if we would have let them! We will definitely go again!

Mom was nice enough to make hot chocolate for us so we stopped by her house when we were done. Even with all the wall paper scrapping it turned out to be a great day!

Terrible Mistake!

2009-01-02T10:49:00.000-08:00

Out with the old and in with the new! This new year has inspired us (actually it was Jeremy.) Yesterday he was going stir crazy and told me he was going to go buy materials to work on the fence--in the middle of winter with snow on the ground--I told him I thought we should wait until Spring. He told me he just needed a project so I put him to work!

3 Years ago when we moved in I did this to the girls room:

I know, I know, I've seen the light and don't know what I was thinking! In my defense at that time in my life I:

A) was watching WAY too much HGTV

B) was suppressing a child hood dream of being a circus performer

C) was totally out of my mind!

Now I am 3 Years older (and wiser too!) and I:

A) have sworn off HGTV (who has time for TV with 4 little ones running around the house!)

B) have read Water for Elephants which is all about circus life and has cured me of ever wanting that for my life!

C) ...well I'm still totally out of my mind but 2 out of 3 isn't bad!

For the past 2 Years and 11 months I have absolutely hated the paint job in the girls room! So yesterday I put Jeremy to work scraping off the wall paper (and in effect getting rid of the awful paint job!!!) In no time at all we will all be able to sleep better knowing this awful mistake has been fixed (I'm sure it is the crazy walls that keeps Esther up at night!) I'll keep you posted on the progress!

HAPPY 2009!!!

2009-01-01T10:11:00.000-08:00

I can hardly believe 2008 is over! For the most part this has been a good year for us: we got to meet the newest member of our family (We love you Essie Sage!), Jeremy ran for office (we met a ton of really neat people and learned a lot about the election process), the girls have kept us busy (dance lessons, gymnastics,...boundless energy), we got a new car (WE GOT A NEW CAR!!!) there are many other good things about this last year (that's not to say we haven't had our challenges--because we have but the good out ways the bad (it always does) we are truly blessed!) I'm excited to see what 2009 has in store for our little family!

We had a great time bringing in the new year last night! My parents and Ryan and Amanda came over and we played games and hung out (Mechelle and Aaron joined us VIA phone--they had sick boys!) It was a good time!

At midnight KST (Kid Standard Time)--OK, it was actually 10:00 pm but we thought that was late enough for our little ones to be up--we celebrated the new year!

We hope you all enjoy this New Year!!!

Kung Fu Girl!

2008-12-31T19:54:00.000-08:00

Tonight we had mashed potatoes for dinner. I heard the girls laughing so I looked over and Wynnie had rolled all her potatoes into little balls. I listened to them and heard Wynnie calling Hannah "Master" so I went over and asked them what they were doing.

Turns out Wynnie was making her own dumplings so she could be like Kung Fu Panda...which is her current fav movie! She asks me every time we eat if we can get some "tooth picks" (Chop sticks) so she can eat like China people do! The other day Bruce told her the movie was scary and she told him "No it's not it's good...it teaches you how to fight!"

A day out with the kids!

2008-12-29T17:54:00.000-08:00

Today we ventured out to see a movie! We called up Holly and her kids, Mechelle and the boys, and grandma and met down at the Junction to see The Tale of Despereaux! Back in August the girls and I read the book and absolutely LOVED it! When we found out they were turning the book into a movie we were so excited to see it! The girls talk about it all the time! Hannah actually thought we had missed our opportunity to see it because on the radio she heard an ad and it said "The Tale of Despereaux in theaters this Friday" so on Saturday she got all sad and said "Mom, we missed our chance to see Despereaux...it was in theaters Friday, not today!" I explained to her that it was still in theaters and that we would go see it soon. Well, today was the day! I decided we didn't have any other plans and the girls needed a little cheering up (sadness fell over our home last night as the girls learned that Grandma and Grandpa Peterson weren't able to make it up for Christmas!)

The movie was really good (I still liked the book better, but isn't that how it always is?) It was a cute show! The girls really enjoyed it and the message of the movie was great! I would recommend the movie (and the book) well worth seeing (and reading) although it's kind-of annoying to me how they make the rodents in these movies (and books) so dang cute when in reality rodents are EVIL, PURE EVIL!!!!

Art Lessons

2008-12-11T19:33:00.001-08:00

Today through the magic of technology Hannah was able to enjoy an art lesson with her Grandma Nancy! Jeremy's mom is a wonderful artist! She is a children's book illustrator and has amazing talent. Hannah has been blessed with this talent as well (thank you genetics!) and she is so excited to have her grandma teach her.
Ever since Hannah was little whenever Nancy is in town all Hannah wants to do is watch her draw and Hannah has been able to pick up what she sees BUT Nancy and Gary don't come into town nearly enough...hint, hint :) Anyway, now we have a web cam so even though Nancy is in Texas they can still see each other over the computer and Hannah can get lessons from her grandma--which I think is awesome!

She had so much fun today! Jeremy said they were on the computer for over an hour and Hannah has talked about it all night! She did some cute holiday drawings:

Hannah already asked me if we could get her a special book to put all of the drawings that she does with her grandma (great idea) so we will be heading out tomorrow to pick one up!

Here's a little clip from the lesson:

Nutcracker Ballet

2008-12-06T21:00:00.000-08:00

Christie, Jeremy's campaign manager, called Hannah earlier this week and asked her if she wanted to go to the ballet. Of course Hannah said Yes so Christie sent us four tickets! Later in the week the girls got a package (from Christie) with a nutcracker book and cd in it. Hannah immediately read the book and we have been listening to the cd non-stop! The girls love to dance around the house to the music! Hannah is good at giving them directions "This is the land of sweets" or "This is the dance of the snow princess" and whenever they hear Jeremy they run and hide because he is the Mouse King! It is so cute!

Today we got to go see the ballet! The girls have been so excited all week and today I thought they might burst! They got to wear their "fancy" dresses which made them happy--they love to dress up! We went to the Egyptian theater and the ballet did not disappoint! Watching the girls faces was the best part! They loved every minute of it! We had great seats (we sat on the fourth row) and were able to see every detail! The costumes were amazing. At intermission we took the girls up and showed them where the orchestra sat--it was fun for them to see them all under the stage! This was the first time any of us had seen the Nutcracker and we all enjoyed it--yes, even Jeremy!

When the ballet was over the girls left the theater dancing--and haven't stopped! They will remember this for a long time! It was a great day--Thanks Christie!

Update on Sophie...

2008-11-19T08:08:00.001-08:00

Sophie seems to be doing ok this morning. Although, when she first got up she looked at me with sad puppy dog eyes and said "Mommy, mouth, OUCH!" (my heart did break!) She has had breakfast and handled eating well. Her tongue now looks like she just has a big scratch across the top of it...it's not the gaping wound it was last night. So, hopefully she won't get an infection in it and it will be all better in a few days!

On a happier note...

2008-11-18T22:53:00.000-08:00

Tonight (before the tongue incident) the girls and I made Chocolate Cakes in a mug! Tomorrow for activity days we are making them so I thought I'd give them a trial run tonight! The girls loved them...they just love to cook and it was fun because they each got to make their own!

Here's the cake in the microwave (2 min 45 seconds...no more...no less...the instructions are very specific about this!) It rises up out of the cup a little and the girls loved to watch it (It actually became a contest between them "Mine got higher than yours did!" Gotta love sisters!)

Here they are enjoying the wonderful cakes they made!

One cake was probably more than enough for all of them but I had to let them each make their own...it's the experience of baking!...next time we will just make one!

Poor Sophie....AGAIN!

2008-11-18T22:05:00.000-08:00

Tonight as we were getting the girls ready for bed Sophie went up to their room. She usually gets a wild burst of energy right before bed time and has been known to run around, jump on beds, climb up to Hannah's top bunk, etc... basically get a little crazy! Tonight was no exception (I'm sure) but as she was by herself we are not exactly sure what happened all we do know is Hannah was on the stairs and she heard Sophie cry so she told us Sophie was hurt. When I went upstairs Sophie was coming out of their room and blood was gushing out of her mouth. I grabbed her and took her to the bathroom and after the bleeding slowed down a bit this is what we found:

I had Jeremy come in and look at it and in true Jeremy fashion when I asked him to tell me how big and deep it was he told me "I can't look at it again...it makes me what to throw-up!" He gets a little (A LOT) queasy...he's not one for blood and guts! I called the doctor to see if there was anything they could do. They told me they don't stitch up mouths that I should just give her some ice water to drink not let her eat anything tonight and by morning it should be ok (or at least a little better!) They said tongues heal quickly and she should form a nice canker sore over the cut (I'm sure she going to love that!)

Here I am trying to get Sophie to stick out her tongue for the picture:

When I was on the phone with the doctor Hannah headed straight for her pad of paper and pen and drew this nice picture of Sophie's "tung" (tongue) and what it would look like with stitches:

She is a true artist...she would be totally lost without her paper and pen!

Sophie seems to be doing ok. She has tried to rub at her tongue a couple of times and you could tell it was bugging her a little bit, but she is asleep right now and we will wait and see what tomorrow holds...stay tuned!

Peterson Politics

2008-10-22T19:37:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama has become a bad word in our house! The girls hate him...Wynnie is by far the most animated about it! Whenever she hears his name she scrunches up her face (If your a Toy Story fan: she puts on her angry eyes) and then she says "No more Barack Obama in this house!" I don't know what she will do if he wins the election! We will have to have a quick lesson on respect...we can not like the man but we can respect him as our President---hopefully (fingers crossed) we won't have to...I mean, I guess it's always a good idea to give your kids a lesson on respect (there doesn't seem to be enough of it in the world) but hopefully he won't win! I do know where she is coming from though...Jeremy LOVES to listen to talk radio. So much so that if the radio is on a different station and he comes into the room he will change it to talk radio...it doesn't matter who is listening to what...the radio will be changed...it doesn't matter if he is just passing through the kitchen on his way to his office...he will change the station! And talk radio LOVES to talk about Barack Obama! We hear his name at least a thousand times a day...it gets a little (A LOT) tiring! So I understand where the girls are coming from. The other day we were at the store and Hannah picked up Barack Obama's book.

Hannah: Look mom it's Barack Obama! We need to get this book for dad!

Me (a little surprised): Really...

Hannah: Yeah we need to get it for dad so we can stop listening about him on the radio!

Me: You're right, although I don't think your dad would appreciate it

Veterinarians!

2008-10-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

Today was our primary program. The girls did great! The program was wonderful! After that we've kind-of just had a lazy day at home. Just hanging out. The girls have been playing and once again their imaginations just amaze me! They set up a little vet office (our couch.) And they were taking care of their stuffed animals. They had a little table set up with tissue, medicine, and soap. Wynnie was the doctor and Hannah was the nurse. Hannah took great notes (a detailed description of the problem, the time the animal came in, when they got their medicine, and how long they had to stay!) Once again---they just make me smile!

Here's one of their patients: Ella the cat (I think she has a smile too!)

2008-10-16T19:23:00.000-07:00

Sherlock ~~Holmes~~ Hannah

Today Hannah got out her magnifying glass, put on her hat, and made sure she had her notebook and pencil. She then went around the house looking at things through her magnifying glass and taking notes. She came up to me showed me her notebook and said "Mom, I found a yellow thing the shape of a triangle on the wood floor in the dinning room!" She was SOOO excited! I couldn't help but smile. I said "Good work decective Hannah you solved the mystery....your mom's not a very good house keeper!"

Elementary dear Watson!

Dinosaur VS. Spring Chicken

2008-10-16T11:14:00.000-07:00

Jeremy was in the newspaper today. The Standard did a piece on all the candidates. Hannah walked in while we were reading the article online. Here's our conversation:

Hannah: "Dad, is that who you are running against?" (pointing to the picture of Neil)

Jeremy: "Yes"

Hannah: "He's old"

Jeremy: "Yeah, he's a dinosaur"

Hannah: "If he's a dinosaur what does that make you?"

Me: "Hannah, that makes your dad a spring chicken!"

Hannah then sat down and drew a picture:

She makes my heart melt!

What happened to Autumn?!?!?!

2008-10-12T19:42:00.000-07:00

We have had such nice weather in the 70's and 80's and about a week of 50's-60's then BAM this morning we woke up to winter!!!

Wynnie came down this morning and we sent her to lay on the couch. We can usually get a little more sleep when we do this, but this morning she went out to the couch then we heard her say "Mom, you need to come look at this...it is really weird...you better bring Dad too...he needs to see this...it's REALLY weird." So we got up wiped the sleepers out of our eyes and stumbled into the living room. She had opened the curtains and was standing on the couch with her mouth wide open pointing out the window. We looked out and the whole neighborhood was covered in snow and it was still coming down pretty hard! Wynnie then looked at me and said "Mom, it's going to be a special day...I love the snow!"

We walked to church in the snow--it was huge flakes and it was coming down hard so I thought for sure by the time we got done with church (3 hours later) the sun would be shinning and all the snow would be melted, but this is what it looked like when we walked home:

By the time we got home (a block and a half away) we were covered in snow!

I hope this is just a fluke and winter is not coming this early!...especially with this much snow as we are still mourning the loss of our snow blower!

Sophie turns TWO!!!

2008-10-09T19:28:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Sophie!

We had a small (just her cousins) party for her today. It was a Pooh Bear theme...we colored pictures, played pin the tail on Eeyore, then had cupcakes (I think this was the favorite part as cupcakes kept disappearing through out the party!)

Gary and Nancy are in town (Ali is checking out collages so they are going to go up to USU...is she really that old...it seems like yesterday she was just an 8 year old at our wedding!) so they were able to stop by for a little while. It was nice that they were able to come (Nancy helped the girls decorate and get ready for the party) even if Sophie was having a melt down when they left and we had a house full of crazy kids hopped up on sugar running around (this is where all those "missing" cupcakes comes in to play...I'm learning...keep the cupcakes locked up until THE END of the party!) Despite all the craziness it was a fun party!

You can definately tell Sophie is 2! She is so hot or cold...she is being the sweetest little thing or she is throwing a fit...it seems there is no middle ground with her any more! As she was opening her presents she kept saying "Mine...Mine!" I have no idea where she learned this...I think it just comes with turning 2! She also didn't want to open all of her presents (I know this is weird--even for a 2 year old--what kid doesn't like to open presents?) I would try and get her interested in opening one and she would just scream at me! Hopefully she will grow out of it soon!

Here is a picture of her Pooh Bear cake:

Here is a picture of Sophie eating her cake:

And here is a cute video of Sophie singing Happy Birthday...she still knows how to make me smile!

Glad we're on a Health Savings Plan!

2008-08-30T22:37:00.000-07:00

We switched to a Health Savings Plan back in spring. On our old insurance our premiums each month were going up to over $1,000 so we switched but it means that now we pay everything out of pocket until we reach our $5,000 deductible. Normally this would work out fine for us and not be a big deal, normally we are a pretty healthy family, normally...I guess there is nothing normal about us!
This summer has been a summer of unexpected doctor visits and today we add another to the list! When we were at my grandmas cleaning up Wynnie was headed inside when she fell and sliced her hand on the screen door. The cut was pretty deep and on the crease of her hand so I knew it would have a hard time healing on its own...so it was off to the doctors office and 3 stitches (and 3 lolly pops--one for each stitch) later Wynnie was back to having a smile on her face!

While we were at the doctors office Wynnie was having a hard time. She doesn't like to be in pain and she doesn't like needles (she gets that from her dad.) I was stroking her hair and trying to calm her down when they were putting in the stitches and we had this conversation:

Me: Wynnie I am so proud of you! You are being so brave!

Wynnie: I'm not brave at all, Mom...I'm crying

Me: Even brave people cry sometimes

Wynnie: Yeah, but I'm crying A LOT!

Me: Sometimes even brave people cry A LOT! (Like when they get the doctors bill for stitches!)

Clean up, Clean up!!!

2008-08-30T21:07:00.000-07:00

We went to my grandmas to help clean up and organzie the house (before they put it up for sale.) We found some old wrapping paper and crayons and this kept the kids busy! They had fun drawing out on the back patio (which helped keep them out of the house so we could clean!)

It's Official...

2008-08-30T11:58:00.000-07:00

This tu-tu is the new FAV at our house! I think I have a picture of all the kids wearing it! The boys came over to pick us up today and Preston wanted to dance around in it. Then Bruce wanted to put it on! (I'm sure their dad is SOOO glad they have girl cousins to play with!) They do look cute...maybe they have a future career in the ballet?

Our sleeping baby!

2008-08-29T11:34:00.000-07:00

I LOVE sleeping baby pictures...they look so cute and peaceful! The last few days I've walked into the living room and found Esther fast asleep. She doesn't look very comfortable (at least not to me!) The first time she was curled up into a little ball and her face was all smashed into the rug and the second time she was asleep in her exer-saucer but she was totally asleep. It's amazing to me how kids can sleep anywhere. I have a picture of me as a kid sleeping standing up leaning against the couch (I have the same type of picture of Hannah!) I guess kids just need their rest. I need to be a better mom and put Essie down for her naps (in her crib) so she doesn't just fall asleep anywhere!

Hannah's First day of school!

2008-08-25T20:56:00.000-07:00

Hannah started the first grade today! I can't believe she is getting so big! She has grown up so much in the last little while! We have her on the list to get into the charter school in our area but so far they don't have any openings so at the end of school last year she tested and got accepted into the Accelerated Learning Academy. It is in a new school (about 10 min away) so we will have to drive her ( a big change from just walking her around the corner!) She was excited to start her new school but also a little sad she said she will miss Dee (mostly I think she will miss Mrs. Taylor...so will I...but I think she will do well and have a good time at the new school!)

We watched Preston tonight. The girls always have so much fun playing with him. Wynnie tells me all the time we need to have a brother, but since we haven't been able to make that happen I'm glad they have so many boy cousins to play with!

Sunday Best!

2008-08-24T21:38:00.000-07:00

Today after church Wynnie came home and "dressed" up. She went dancing around the house like this for most of the day...the girls can really make me smile!

I Believe I can FLY!

2008-08-24T20:58:00.000-07:00

And with a great sister and brother-in-law it actually happened (in a controlled sort of way!) Yesterday Mechelle and Aaron took some of our friends (Paul and Jessie) to the I Fly for Paul's birthday (there is an on-going "top that" for their birthdays between them and the last one was a FAB Neil Diamond birthday so Mech and Aaron decided the only way to top it was to go sky diving--for pretend--but real.) Anyway, they know I have always wanted to go but couldn't afford it so they told me to just come and "watch" them and then they ended up making me go...I'm glad they did...I feel bad about the money--I will pay you back...some day :) but it was SOOOO much fun! The kids all came and watched and now Hannah and Wynnie want to go, and the crazy thing is they really could (if we had the cash) anyone 3 or older can do it!

Here's the girls! They had fun watching (and trying on the equipment!) Hannah was pretending she was "flying!"

Here we are getting ready...making sure we have all the important safety equipment (basically shoes that won't fly off and hit us in the head, helmets (in case one of our shoes does fly off), and ear plugs (because it was LOUD!)

Here we are...all decked out...ready to fly! (Mechelle told me to look scared...that's why I look like a dork)

Here we are receiving our final instructions ("Remember you all signed the waiver...if you die it's not our fault!")

Here's Paul:

Here's Jessie:

Here's Aaron:

Here's Mechelle:

Here I am:

OK, so if you look close the wind does some pretty funny things to your face...it was REALLY strong...I mean, it has to be able to lift us off the ground...but despite my lips and cheeks flapping around I couldn't keep a smile off my face! It was SO much fun!

This is what your hair will look like after your done...I guess if your like me...nobody elses hair did this but my advice would still be to wear a bandanna so your not combing knots out of your hair for the next two days!

THANKS AGAIN MECHELLE AND AARON!!!!

Your checks in the mail :)

Lagoon

2008-08-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to Lagoon...and it was a blast! I worried because our (meaning Jeremy and I's) last experience there (yes, it was pre-kids...it's been THAT long...almost 8 years!) was the total opposite of "a blast"...whatever that is! I'll give you the short version of what happened 8 years ago so you know what I have in my mind as the "lagoon experience." I found out Jeremy has some form of motion sickness...I discovered this after we went on our first ride of the day... which also turned out to be our last! He got really sick and the complaining/whining started (I find a lot of similarities between him and our oldest!) This was driving me crazy...you have to know I am a roller coaster girl...I LOVE them...the faster and higher the better! So, I wanted to take full advantage of this day of fun and GO ON MORE THAN ONE RIDE but alas it wasn't to be so I took off my fun hat and put on my sympathetic wife hat and told Jeremy we could go home since he wasn't feeling well. And I guess this would have been a great idea if we (meaning Jeremy :) ) hadn't lost the keys on that one ride we went on! We spent the remainder of our day going from one end of the park to the other to check the lost and founds in search of our keys. So from then on Lagoon=NO FUN! and we have just stayed away!

I've been hearing about their new kids rides and it had been long enough that I was ready to give it another shot and I'm glad I did because we ALL (yes, even Jeremy) had a great time! I think Jeremy may have had as much, if not more, fun than the kids!

We went with the Thomas' and we met the Thompson's later that night (they are lucky enough to have season passes so they came down to hang with us for a couple of hours!)

We started the day out at Lagoon-a-beach. It was fun but we didn't get to spend too much time there...we wanted to get to the rides!

The kids had a great time on all the "kid" rides...We grown ups had fun too since we can ride the rides with the kids now!

Hannah was actually tall enough to go on the "Big" rides! She was a great sport. She went on the rides once and then we went back to the kiddie land. If you ask her Wicked is now her favorite ride...OK she didn't like at all...it was a "I did it once and now I never have to do it again" thing!

We found out Wynnie hates all rides that have anything to do with water. She wanted to go on the log ride so we spent over an hour in line (no joking, besides Wicked I think it was the longest line I stood in) and then when we were about ready to get on the ride she started crying and said she didn't want to go. We had just spent forever in line and there was no where else for Wynnie to go (Jeremy was on a bench somewhere taking a nap and I wasn't about to leave her by herself while Hannah and I went on the ride) so I was a mean mom and I made her go--kicking and screaming! I figured she would calm down once she got on the ride and saw how totally NOT scary it was, but I would be wrong. She continued to cry and scream the entire ride! She did the same thing later when we were in line for OdySea only this time there was someone I could leave her with (which meant I got to ride with my sweet nephew Evrett..."Aunt Minnie can I ride with you?" + "Aunt Minnie can I steer the car = Aunt Minnie ALL WET!! But how could I tell him no...he's such a cutie! And it really wouldn't have been too bad but it was 10:30 pm so there was no sun to dry me off...I spent the rest of the night wet!) Anyway, Wynnie then told us she didn't like the water so we will make sure we avoid the water rides when we are with Wynnie from now on (at least until she outgrows her fear of them!) She did however, go on the Bat (which was the only "Big" roller coaster she was tall enough to ride) and she loved it---so I think I have a future partner for all my roller coasting adventures...as soon as she grows a couple of inches or I can find her some platform shoes!

So now (at least for us) Lagoon = FUN!!!

(Jeremy was even talking about getting season passes next year!)

Thanksgiving Point $2 Tuesday!

2008-08-20T21:07:00.000-07:00

Today we headed down to Lehi for $2 Tuesday--the things we will do to save a buck! When we got there we decided to check out the Dinosaur Museum first...the line was crazy long...we should have turned and run...but we didn't...we stood in line and went in with all the other crazy $2 Tuesday people! We were "going to" come back later with the Thompsons (yes I said going to--I'll get to that part of the story later...it is still a source of heart ache in my house...can you hear the girls crying?) Anyway, since we intended to come back we kind of did the hurried version-we saw everything but there was a million (no exaggeration...ok a little exaggeration...but not much) other people there trying to see everything so we hurried. Once we were safely outside and could breathe without a million other people sucking up our oxygen we decided to go check out the gardens and I'm glad we did! For one thing there was A LOT more space and A LOT fewer people and for another thing they are GORGEOUS! I mean it they are totally beautiful (and totally worth a lot more than $2 to see-although I'm glad it was just $2 so we could afford to go see it!)

They have the Children's garden which is really cool. When you first walk in they have a big Noah's ark that shoots out water and the kids get wet. We unfortunately didn't have swimsuits for the kids, but we let them get wet anyway! Then as you walk through the children's garden they have water that shoots up at you and caves that you can go explore and a caterpillar play set...the kids had a great time!

After we played for a while we said goodbye to Aaron (he had to go home for bishopric meeting) , Esther (he took Esther to my mom because we didn't have enough seats without his car) and (unknowingly) the keys to the van which were in my diaper bag which Aaron took with him! UGH! I know, but we didn't know we were stranded at the time so we were having a great time in the Gardens--they were absolutely beautiful! Side note: when my back yard is finished I want it to look like them...we will need a lot more space AND a lot more money :) When Jeremy came down to rescue us after we realized our mishap with the keys he told me "I think this might be what heaven is like: a bunch of people walking around talking and having a good time in a beautiful place." I think he might be right. It definitely felt like we were in another world!

While we were in the Gardens Holly called and told us they were almost there so we headed to the parking lot to go meet them at the museum (it is a couple of miles away from the Gardens) that is when we realized we didn't have the keys! Long story short: we made some calls, Jeremy and Aaron headed down to rescue us and we headed back into the gardens since there was no way we were making it to the museum without a car! All in all we had a fun day (and secretly I'm kind-of glad we sent the keys with Aaron because then Jeremy was able to enjoy the gardens with us!) If you get the chance to go you should...you might even want to make the chance to go...definitely worth seeing!

OK, so I took like a million pictures (once again a little exaggeration, but not much--seriously I took hundreds of pictures) so you get a slide show. The first will be of the dinosaur museum (crazy crowded) and the second of the gardens (peaceful relaxation)

Happy Birthday Bruce!

2008-08-15T21:11:00.000-07:00

3 Years Old!! (not 2..I get it..now--I helped Mech with the invites and on the first batch I put 2 Years...Oops!)

Bruce loves all things train so he had a train party. We rode the Jupiter Express around downtown (the kids loved it!) then went back to Mech and Aaron's for cake and ice cream! It was a great birthday!

Pretty Princess Party!

2008-08-13T21:11:00.000-07:00

Jaden and Amare came over to play today. The girls wasted no time--they headed up to the play room, put on the princess clothes and threw themselves a princess party! They put the music on and danced and danced! It was real cute!

Jeremy for President

2008-08-13T13:05:00.000-07:00

Esther gets Food!

2008-08-12T21:10:00.000-07:00

And she is SO Happy!!! I should have done this a long time ago (lazy mom!) We started Esther on Rice cereal today and she loved it! She took to food like a fish to water! I tell you these bigger babies need their food! We are hoping it will help her sleep through the night (cross you fingers!)

Camping!

2008-08-10T21:09:00.000-07:00

The girls love it and they are always bugging me about going so "Thanks" Mech and Chrystine for setting this camping trip up and making all my girls dreams come true! (It also stopped them from asking me "when are we going camping?"--at least for the 2 days we were up there now they are asking me "when are we going camping, again?")

We went to this really cool campsite-up North Fork, don't ask me where because I was blindfolded and taken to the secret location...really I was just in the back of the camper so I had no idea where we were going or how to get there, but I found out from my in-laws that it was probably illegal for me to ride in the back of the camper so I'm sticking with the blindfolded story!)

Anyway, once we got there we had so much fun! There was plenty to do and plenty of kids to keep my kids entertained! Here's some highlights:

There was a pond not too far from our campsite that had a rope swing. We headed down there for some fun. The kids had a good time splashing around in the water and swinging on the swing (OK, so I guess us grown ups had fun too!) Aaron caught a snake which the kids thought was way cool!

We had a good time hanging out around camp. The kids made "nature art." They took rocks and sticks and made pictures and animals with them. They played super heroes and house, climbed trees, and (of course) sat around the camp fire and roasted marshmallows!

On Saturday we went on a hike to a waterfall. The hike ended up being really steep (I had Essie in the snuggley and was carrying Sophie for most of it--not that others hadn't volunteered help Sophie was just in one of her moods and I was the only one that could even look at her!) Once we got to the waterfall it was beautiful and cool. The kids played in the water (and those adventurous ones climbed to the top of the falls!) On the way back we decided to follow the river so we didn't have to do all the steep parts going down. We had different struggles but we made it back down in one piece and all in all it was a fun little adventure!

summer fun

2008-08-07T22:48:00.000-07:00

After playing at the park we went to help Mechelle pick beans at her in-laws. The kids had fun playing on the swing set while Mech and I picked the beans. Hannah and Wynnie were having a great time twisting around in the swing and then letting it go so they twirled REALLY fast! I can remember doing it when I was a kid, but watching them today made me want to throw up!

Wynnie did get hit in the face with the swing and it gave her a big fat lip--ouch! I told her she just matches me now...it was even the same side as my fat lip! (When I was little I was jumping in the leaves with my cousins and I bit my lip off. The doctor sewed it back on but now one side of my lip is bigger...I really hate it!...hopefully Wynnie's isn't permanent!)

More Water Fun!

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

Today we went down to the "water park." We went with Mech and the boys, Anji Coman and her kids and we met Jen and Kelly and their kids down there. It felt great to get wet and the kids had a fun time playing with their friends! (Sorry about the pictures...my camera is being weird!)

the Fair!!

2008-08-06T20:28:00.000-07:00

Today we (Mechelle, Susie, my Mom, and me) took the kids to the Weber County Fair. We had a fun time! They had fences set up with animals inside and the kids got to feed all the animals (pigs, ducks, goats, etc.)

Not sure what this is, but Mechelle fell in love with it! "It's waddle is SO soft!...I REALLY miss Alley McBeal!"

Here we are in front of the Texas Long Horn. We had to take a picture for Grandma and Grandpa Peterson!

They also had a cow hanging out eating hay that they let the kids brush. The kids thought this was pretty cool!

River Fun!

2008-08-05T09:54:00.000-07:00

Last night for family night we took the kids and went to play in the river! It was so fun! There is a kayak course on the weber river (in Riverdale) so we took our tubes and headed down. The Thomas', Suzie and her boys, and my mom and dad joined us. We had a great time. The water was a little cold when you first got in but after days and days of unbearably hot temps it actually felt good!

We floated down the river last year (in July) but it was low and we kept hitting rocks (Jeremy had such an awful time that half way through he decided to get out and walk to the car--he waited for us for a couple of hours!) so we decided to just go to the tongue and play there. But this year the water is a lot higher (I still managed to smacked by bum on a rock--it still hurts today!)

The girls had a great time. Wynnie was a little reluctant to go down but once she did she couldn't stop smiling and laughing! I think Sophie may be part fish. She LOVES the water. She started shivering (I think her lips were even a little blue) so I took her out of the water and she just cried because she wanted to get back in.

Chugga, Chugga, CHOO, CHOO!

2008-08-01T22:20:00.000-07:00

Last night on our way home from mom's we saw a train driving ahead of us. Bruce wants to have a train birthday so we decided to follow the train and see what was going on. After the high speed chase (no...not really...the train didn't go that fast...and neither did we---we were pretty stealth though, I don't even think they knew we were following them!)

Anyway, it lead us to 23rd and wall (the Front Runner parking lot) and Mechelle was able to ask them the scoop on the train. Turns out Ogden is running the train (the Jupiter Express) for free around downtown. Mechelle made arraignments for Bruce's birthday and we decided to go grab the boys (Jeremy and Aaron) and go for the ride. By the time we got back they were done for the night but the guys running it (they are extremely nice) told us they would take us up a couple of blocks and drop us off at the movie complex.

So we went on a train ride...and they even let the kids ring the bell when we were done!

Fun with Wii

2008-08-01T21:18:00.001-07:00

So I'm not a big video gamer (at least not since Atari and Nintendo-the original-back when I was 12!) but my dad got a Wii for fathers day and he just got Wii fit. So when we were over there today they were showing us how it works and I have to say it's pretty cool! If we were to ever have a gaming system-which I can't really see happening BUT if we ever did get one it would definitely be a Wii!

The Wii fit comes with this scale like thing that you step on and it weighs you and tests your balance then you enter your age and height and it tells you your "Wii age." We all took a turn and here is the break-down:

Mechelle: 46

Me: 44 (at least the Wii still thinks I'm younger than Mech even though it told me I was MUCH older than I really am!)

Hannah: 10 (Hannah was really proud of this-when you're young it's cool to feel older!)

Wynnie: she wanted SO bad to be 38--not sure why but that is what she wanted--the Wii said she was 29. Not far off her goal considering she is four!

Bruce: 33 (he wouldn't stand still for the balance part. I think that's why he was so high--you know the older you are the more you fall down!)

Aaron: 38 (Wynnie was jealous!!)

It also told you if you were normal, over-weight, or obese but that just makes me too depressed so I'm not even going to talk about it.

Here's Bruce getting the news that he is obese (Yeah Right! He is 3 and definitely NOT! I think we may have miscalculated his height!)

Then it has games and exercises you can do

Here's Hannah trying the Hula Hoop!

Here's the girls running a race!

Here's Wynnie and Hannah doing Yoga!

Discovery Gateway

2008-07-31T21:19:00.000-07:00

Wow, wow, wow and wow...did I mention WOW!!! This is a cool place! Our cousins Jen and Kelly had some extra tickets so they invited us to go with them and it was SOOOOO fun! The kids really loved it...there was so much for them to do.

We started out upstairs outside where they had a life flight helicopter and the kids could pretend to be pilots, nurses, or dispatch.

Then inside they got to be newscasters, weathermen, radio announcers, and they had a whole exhibit about inventions--tons of stuff to do!

We spent most of the time on the main level where they had a whole little town set up: the farm, the store, the house, a construction site...they had it all! The kids really loved playing with all the stuff and I thought it was really amazing (made me wish I was little again!)

This was Sophie's Favorite! She LOVED driving the jeep! She would cry when I would take her out to go somewhere else to play---it was by far her FAV! She must know her dad had one way back when (the peterson jeep connection!)

They also had this fun contraption that the kids could play with--they had different sections and you would put plastic balls into the contraption and then you could send them to different areas--the kids thought it was really cool!

This is how you can tell the kids played HARD and had a GOOD time:

The bugs strike again!!!

2008-07-30T11:28:00.000-07:00

Their latest victim...

Yesterday Wynnie got a bite on her cheek. It was a little red and then this morning we woke up to another Quasimodo! Her eye is swollen and lets face it she looks like we beat her! I think we may just stay inside today :)

hot...Hot...HOT!!!

2008-07-29T12:11:00.000-07:00

It has been SO hot lately! I'm not talking a little uncomfortable I may need a drink of water hot I'm talking exert ANY physical effort to do anything (say blink your eyes) and your body is drenched in sweat...it's practically impossible to stay hydrated! I've been downing glasses of water, these are big 32 oz cups, and I just can't seem to get enough...which poses a couple of problems 1) I feel like all I'm doing is drinking water (because basically I am...It's too hot to do anything else) and 2) I'm spending an awful lot of time in the bathroom (flashbacks to being pregnant...which I'm not...first summer I haven't been in what feels like forever and I am still stuck in the bathroom!!!) You would think with all the sweating I'm doing that there wouldn't be any water left to pee out!

Don't get me wrong I love summer...I've been waiting for it all year. I just wish it wasn't this hot! When I got into our car the thermometer said it was 114! Now while I don't actually believe it was 114 and I know that some places DO get this hot (none that I want to visit anytime soon!) I do know one thing...It IS hot!!! Even with all the heat I see pictures like this and I'm reminded why I like summer so much!

It just makes me smile...and of course the smile makes me sweat...I think I need another glass of water :)

Midway Fun!

2008-07-28T11:56:00.000-07:00

We had another FUN weekend up in Midway! Jared and Mitzi were in town so the whole Peterson Family got to hang out! We had a great time!

We put up the slip n' slide and had a water fight

Here's Wynnie having some fun with some clothespins! She told me "Look Mom I'm a porcupine!"--she has such an imagination!

We went to the pool

On Saturday night we hung out: played a little ping pong, ate some smores and watched Harry and the Hendersons.

On Sunday we took a walk down to "the bridge." This is our favorite place to walk when we go to Midway--the girls love to go down to the river and throw rocks!

Happy Birthday Hannah!

2008-07-25T19:09:00.000-07:00

I can't believe she is 6! Where does the time go?

This year Hannah wanted a bug/garden party. (Ever since Grandma Nancy gave the girls their bug collection they have been pretty much obsessed with bugs!)

Here's her cake and cupcakes for the party. We made the "bugs" out of edible play dough...the kids seemed to like them!

When the kids first arrived they each got a flower pot to decorate with stickers and markers.

Then we had a bug relay race. They each got bug catcher kits and they had to first catch some popcorn with their nets. Then they ran across the lawn holding a balloon caterpillar. They then grabbed some bandannas and had to be butterflies and "fly" back to a big pot of dirt that had bugs hidden in it. When they got to the pot they had to use their tweezers and pick up three bugs then the next person went.

Here's Hannah holding a balloon butterfly that the kids made.

After opening presents and having cake the kids just played.

Happy Birthday Dad!

2008-07-24T22:41:00.000-07:00

Tonight we took my dad out sailing on the boat for his birthday. It is his new favorite past time. When we got there the water was low...REAL low...so low in fact that we all weren't able to go on the boat! We decided that those who hadn't been out before and Dad (of course) would be the ones to set sail! So that meant Jeremy and I (and Mechelle and Aaron) just stayed behind and watched them sail out. As soon as they got out of the harbor we saw the boat stop and knew they were probably stuck. Here they are talking with Aaron trying to figure it out. As soon as they got un-stuck they came right back...the lake was way too low (Aaron and Mech are going to move the boat this weekend.)

When they got back we got to watch the sunset...it was amazing. Then we headed back...not the fun filled night of sailing that we had planned but it was still fun to hang out with everyone!

PARADE!!!

2008-07-24T15:38:00.000-07:00

What I really meant to say was "UGH, the 24th of July parade was today" in a hushed whisper so my kids wouldn't hear...BUT they knew...so we went! I'm not a big parade goer. Don't get me wrong I go I'm just not sure I enjoy it all that much...it's hot, they are long (are the shriners still coming?!?!?), they usually just consist of marching bands and cheerleaders--Go Team! (Oh yeah, and shriners--tons and tons of shriners) then I guess you do have the fire engines and police cars which are just loud and give me a headache! Anyway, let's just say I'm not a huge fan...but my kids are and we missed the Riverdale parade on the 4th (because we were sailing--much funner) so there was NO way I was getting out of this one and you know what? It was actually not that bad. I'm not saying I'm a "parade person" but I didn't really mind it this year. They had A LOT of floats...real parade floats! (they have been MIA in the 24th parade for quite some time so it was nice to have them back!) We also left half way through (before all the shriners) so...it was still long...I don't know how everyone else stayed til the end! But we had fun!

Here the kids are having fun with their garbage!...I think they were a little bored with the parade (like I said it was a little long!)