In The Evening

In the evenings Bonnie and I have been having fun. She got this present for Christmas from her cousin.


It has become routine to spell out letters every night after Chas has gone to bed. I think of it as a cool down time for Bonnie to relax and get ready for bed. Jay and I have been having so much fun watching her learn her letters. Tonight she named most of the letters as I pulled them out of the case and if she didn't know the letter is was automatically a B. This began to crack me up as we got towards the end and there were more and more B's appearing.



I've come to look forward to these times also because it's usually just the two of us and I feel that Bonnie and I get some quality time together. Plus it's one of those times that I can continually give her positive feedback which makes me feel like I'm doing ok as a mama.

Thanks Jeni for making sure she got this as a present.

Aren't They Cute

I just love these two photos. They are just fun.

Interactive Music Player

Every Monday in our home we have Family Home Evening. It's a night where we get together as a family. Usually we sing a song at the beginning and end of our little event. At first Jay and I would find church songs on you tube but then he discovered this.

http://www.lds.org/cm/display/0,17631,4996-1,00.html#

This is an interactive music player and you can choose the song you'd like to sing for the night with the player. It is really nice and I'm glad we found it. Just thought I'd share the good info.

Apple

Chas went to town on an apple last week. I personally thought he was so cute. This is also before his personality morphed into tantrum boy!


Scooter is awaiting any dropped food from this boy - the dog is always close when Chas gets food.

pillow covers

Two weeks ago I pulled out some fabric and made a pillow cover. This is something I meant to do a full year ago but sometimes I just don't get around to things until much later. Really I was just nervous about messing up on the pretty fabric, so I decided to try it out on the cute fabric. If all went wrong I could give the pillow to Bonnie for her bed since it matches her quilt.

Well what got me started two Saturdays ago was thinking I want fabric covered buttons. So I decided to give it a go and guess what - it worked!! I was so excited.


The buttons may not look like a lot at the moment but that is because they come from a much larger pattern. This is the fabric I'm using for the couch pillows.


I've now cute out all the fabric for one pillow but I don't think I will get to it till Tuesday, I don't trust myself today.

On another note is anyone having as hard of a time moving photos around in their post - it is really getting ridiculous.

Light

We haven't seen sunshine for three weeks and life is really beginning to suck. So please send your sunshine our way - I really really need it.

Long

I have a feeling today is going to be tough. We (the kids & I) have not been awake for a half hour and Bonnie has had two, that's right count it two, temper tantrums. What am I to do.

Exercise

Today Jay took me to the auto parts store to get my wipers on the car replaced. After that little adventure we were heading to drop Jay off at work and he suggested we just grab some lunch and then drop him off. Me loving the idea of not making any food for the kids, full heartily agreed.

After we purchased the fast food, we decided since we're close we'd park over at the fair grounds.

As we're driving through the fair grounds Jay suggested we park in the parking lot where the guy is exercising his dog. I kind of laugh picturing some guy running around a parking lot with his dog, it's an odd place for a work out.

So we park and the humor begins. This guy was driving his pickup around this huge parking lot while his big dog followed (I think it was a Rottweiler). We saw him do one lap, then two laps, and then some more as the dog ran behind. Then it seemed there was a cool down point and the dog was trotting behind the pickup for a lap, I assumed it was cool down time. But oh now then the full out running started again.

Then the pickup backs in to the parking spot next to us in a parking lot that could easily park over fifty cars. I look at Jay and said, he's hiding from the dog. As the dog caught up to our side of the parking lot the guy takes off and the dog follows him in a fut trot.

The laps continue as Jay and I are just baffled at this whole thing. I mean seriously, who is so lazy as to drive around and let the dog chase the car for a work out. I think I can say I've seen it all.

optimistic

Today is starting out quieter than I imagined. The night was a bit of a disaster but I'd rather not relive that again.

Right now Bonnie is snoozing in my bed and Chas is quietly playing with toys. I can't even express how happy I just feel being able to watch my little ones.

Today is one of the few days a week I get to spend at home during tax season. Of course I have work to do and errands to run but I just enjoy being able to stop everything and sit on the couch with the kids and be in their world.

When I had Bonnie she came to work with me everyday and that was tough. I either felt like I was ignoring her or she was in the way of work. Yesterday at work I couldn't believe how much work I could accomplish without children around. So I feel optimistic that even though I'm only at work three days a week - I'll still be getting more done each day than I have been in the past couple of years.

Plus having two days a week at home gives me the option to do more decorating. With the move to our new house, we just haven't fully hung all the pictures and things that we'd like. So my goal this month is to finish unpacking any boxes in the house that aren't unpacked and hang more pictures - it's time to make it my home.

I hope this Tuesday finds everyone else happy. It looks like we are having an inversion (not sure if this is the correct spelling for this type of weather pattern) or fog today. Either way I don't care!! Plus I'm finally feeling like I'd like to sew again, Christmas really burned me out. I have a bag pattern I bought a long time ago that it itching to be made.

Sunday Photos

My friend posted Sunday pictures with her kids all ready to go to church. So they looked super cute. I told her I'd do the same and totally forgot last week. So this week I made sure I remembered.

The idea with the Sunday photos was the fact that looking back we all looked so goofy but at the time thought we looked great.

So for better or worse this was the best photo I could come up with.



In this photo Chas is currently pulling off one of his socks and Bonnie is refusing to smile.

Tired

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Originally uploaded by Jay&Sally

This is pretty much how I feel every Saturday. I'm lucky to even get anything accomplished.

Really I just thought I'd share a cute photo of Bonnie at two weeks old. It's hard to imagine she was this little once.

Maternity Clothing Woes

Yesterday I went to the fabric store to see about purchasing some maternity skirt patterns. I can sew decently and so I figured I can sew myself some skirts. I have some really great fabrics I've bought just for the purpose of sewing skirts.

I was sorely disappointed at the options provided me. First off they put maternity patterns with lingerie - how do those two categories EVER go together. Then I found two pages in another pattern book. Reality was, the photos of the ladies looked as big as I do now and those clothes won't last the next 6 months. Plus I found no skirt patterns which was the only reason I went. So now I am at a loss on what to do next.

My big situation is I've never been pregnant during tax season. During tax season we are a suit and tie atmosphere and the rest of the year I can get away with khakis. So I am at a loss on what to do next to prepare my wardrobe for the tax season that is upon us.

Oh well, I'll figure something out. Jay suggested finding three outfits I already have and wearing them till the end of the pregnancy, sounds like fun to me.

What a year can bring

One year ago today:



The day he came home from the hospital:


Monday night this week:


One year old today - eating his birthday cake:



I'm not going to get all gushy on you here but I am amazed at how quickly these little people learn things and are able to do so much. Chas's arrival has been such a blessing on our little family. His personality is just what we need during every tax season - he is just so happy.

Vocabulary

I am so excited to say Bonnie is really starting to talk finally. She is using sentences - although sometimes hard to understand. I am so grateful. Last night she said "Child of God". I was so impressed because I'd never heard here say that.

So just a little bit of happiness during this gloomy winter. Yeah it snowed again yesterday! So here is a photo of Bonnie & Jay after they made their snowman - this was during the first big snow.
Just a note - Bonnie has hit a no smiling in photos stage. Hope this doesn't last long because she has such a beautiful smile.

A New Year

I am looking forward to this year and I can't figure out why.

First, I think I've finally come to terms with tax season. It's how we earn our living and yes it is a lot of work every year. But with work comes accomplishment and another return sent back to it's owner - it feels good to get the returns out the door.

This week has been really tough and I know mainly it's because my chemistry has been off. My doctor had to cancel my Tuesday appointment as although I see her tomorrow the medicine that keeps me sane and my family happy ran out on Monday. Jay said today he's just holding on for another 24 hours till I return to the happy Sally he loves.

2009 brings some excitement to me. We will be welcoming a new baby this July into our family, which means now we'll have 3 kids. This scares me and excites me. This will be the second summer that I can send the kids into the back yard to play and I look forward to this during my down time after the baby comes. It will be wonderful to sit on the backporch and just relax because heck this time I'm not starting or in the middle of tax season when this baby arrives.

Plus winter will eventually end. We are slowly getting to the end of winter and although I know we have a few tough months left really in our town the weather seems to stay relatively nice after Feb 14. We live in a wonderful valley.

Hmm what else? Well we live in this wonderful house and a little oasis in the middle of our city, which most days I do have to pinch myself when I look out accross our back yard - it's beautiful.

So I'm thinking 2009 is going to rock, if only because I say it will.

Jay and I are planning and setting goals which always makes me glad. At least this way we know what we need to accomplish to get to certain places in our lives. Yeah I guess we sound kind of boring but it's how we work so well togehter. Plus we're planning on doing a lot more camping this year with the kids - and I will admit I'm a little excited about this. I think I can handle two nights of roughing it.

I hope everyone else is either enjoying or surviving the new year. Sometimes we have to have it tough for a while to realize how wonderful things really are.

And last but not least, as every day passes I'm coming to better terms with my nephew's death. Every time it hits me, well it's just tough. I'm so proud of my sister's family and how tough they've been through all of this. This year is my year to be thankful for my family and my extended family - we love you all.

Happy New Year.