Our "New" "Blue" Room

This fall we finally added windows to the wall that would give us a view of the mountains. Had we known this would have been the case when building, we would have done this from the start, but whatever. I didn't want to pay for it, but Charl really really really wanted the windows. (Now that I have the windows, I do really enjoy looking out into our yard and at the Mt. Timp.) Since we had to tear up the wall, I decided to re-paint the walls in blue. I thought I took better pictures of the room, but I must have been distracted (most likely by Tate). Anyway, here is one picture I took and then the others are of the painting we "got" for Christmas to go the wall between the new windows. (I'll take better pictures once I put away Christmas.)

The Birthday Cake

I did make Holly a birthday cake for the "extended family party". Hello Kitty was her choice...okay, I may have persuaded her a little bit because I knew I could the simplicity of Hello Kitty. Here are some pictures from that party.

Holly's 3rd Birthday!

Holly had a birthday, shout "HOORAY". Wow, how time flies. Charl took the day off and we took Anders and Holly to a movie...yes, we went to an actual movie theater...it's been a long while since we've done this. (Granny Louw came to the house to keep Tate entertained.) We saw Tangled. (There were only 5 other people in whole theater since it was the earliest matinee and school was still in session.) Charl and I really enjoyed the movie and I think the kids did too.






Holly is waiting for the movie to start. She is such a cutie and looked a year older, too.

Me, Andersen and Holly...still waiting for the movie to start.













After the movie, we came back home to get Tate and eat lunch. Then we headed back out the door and did a little bit of Christmas shopping. The kids all fell asleep in the car, so Charl and I were able to pick out a painting to go on our newly "windowed" wall without the kids going crazy in an art gallery. Then we went Target and shopped a little more. Afterwards, we went to JCW's (a hamburger joint) and had dinner. Holly said she wanted a hamburger for dinner. We came home and had ice cream...which is preferred over cake. Holly blew out her 3 candles!

Then she ripped into her present.
























She got her first princess doll...Cinderella. It came with 4 outfits. We'll see who does the "dressing" of the doll.

A picture with Granny Louw after their fun lunch/shopping date.

Halloween 2010

This year the kids really got Halloween. Andersen begged to be BUZZ Lightyear for at least 2 months before Halloween. I got the costume a month early and by the time Halloween rolled around, he wanted to be a superhero (Spiderman or Ironman), but this mamma wasn't about to buy him another costume. Now that he's seen Toy Story 3, he's back to being a Buzz lover. Holly was a great Ladybug (thanks Layne for loaning us that cute costume). She kept up with Andersen and Bensen (boy across the street) quite well and I never had to carry her. It was fun to walk the neighborhood with Shante (Ben's mom) and then we stopped at their house after the kids' hands were frozen for some warm food. Tate just got dressed up for a pre Trick-or-Treating gathering at Granny and Grandpa Louw's house, where the kids could see their Pew cousins dressed up too. (He hated wearing the hat! If only he knew I stayed up late the night before sewing (if you can call it that) on the "potatoes".) Charl and Tate manned our house and gave out treats, watched football, and stayed warm. Once the tricker-treaters faded, we took the kids to Keith and Amber's for on last treat. Fun times.

"I don't like this hat!" "Why do you keep putting it on my head?!" (Notice we had to hold his hands.)



Happier without the hat.

A beautful "Sack-O-Taters"

Ants in His Pants: A Not So Reverent Day

I try my best to be prepared for church so that the kids can be reverent. I have not been successful with this at all, especially with Andersen. He is a kid that has ants in his pants when it comes to church. Yesterday we got to church early and found a nice middle pew about 5 rows from the front. We had cars, crayons, paper, etc. packed in the bags. Of course, none of those things entertain Andersen. He wants to copy whatever Tate does. He's noisy. I said to him, "All the people can see you acting silly and not being reverent." His response to me is, "Only the people behind, not the ones in front of us." Of course people around us can hear him. He's all over the benches and floors, even trying to turn sommersaults and getting his feet up in the air. We sat next to Bro. and Sis. Stone (our next door neighbors) and she even tried to get him to sit nicely. Tate got fussy and Charl took him out. Holly is great at church...just sits there and colors, or she just sits. So at this point I mostly have to tackle Andersens antics. We did okay for about 1o min. and then Charl came back with Tate. (Now there's only like 7 minutes left of Sacrament Mtg.) Andersen makes his way to the aisle and starts licking the pew. The father of the family across the aisle really got a kick out of that. When I nudge Charl to make him stop (he was closer than I was), Charl grabbed him and pulled him back in our row, but with a little too much force, so he started crying. Charl then had to take him out, shoeless. I look over at the father and yes, he's laughing hysterially at the series of events.

So now on to Primary. He has to say the opening prayer. That went okay, but he wanted me to stay with him. I had Holly with me too, because I needed to help her go to the bathroom before sending her to nursery. So Andersen said he had to go potty, too. I take both kids to bathroom and took them back to their classes and all is well....until...the third hour. Sister Stone ended up last minute substitute teaching Andersen's class. She ended up bringing him to me because he just kept saying to her that he didn't want to be at church. She didn't have any help, so she just brought him to me. Charl took him to the "timeout" room for 5 minutes and then he came back to sharing time with us. Sis. Stone came back and got Andersen to see if he wanted to draw the picture. He went willingly, but with 5 minutes left of church, the primary secretary comes to get me. Andersen is standing at the doorway, with the lower half of his untuck shirt all wet. Yes, he apparently went to the bathroom again, but did not successfully move his shirt in time and he peed all over his shirt. At this point, I figured it was just time to GO HOME. Which we did.

I made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and I had Andersen take some to Bro. and Sis. Stone and he apologized for not being reverent in church. She was so nice and hugged him and said this is like our lesson today...being kind to others because that is being like Jesus. So the day ended better than it started.

But, I'm still in need of a solution for a kid with ants in his pants. Suggestions welcome.

See How They Change.

I haven't blogged in a really long time. My last post was when Holly turned 2. She'll turn 3 in like 7 weeks. So what has happened since last December??? We've been enjoying our new little bundle of joy...Tate. Well, he's not so little anymore. I mentioned to Layne that I quit blogging and she said, "I know, Tate is like a long lost kid." So this post is for you (Layne).

February 4, 2010...1 day old...at the hospital.

March 4, 2010...1 month old

April 4, 2010...2 months old

May 4, 2010...3 months old

June 4, 2010...4 months old


July 4, 2010...5 months old


August 4, 2010...6 months old


September 4, 2010...7 months old



October 4, 2010...8 months old

Holly Turns 2

Hard to believe 2 years ago I gave birth to our sweet little girl. I remember thinking how can she be mine with all that black hair, but then I looked at her precious face that looked just like her brother's and knew she belonged to me. Well, she lost all that black hair and now she is considered a "blondie" with beautiful curls. Holly is such a joy to be around. She is so smart and curious as all 2 year olds are. She loves food. I often find her in the pantry digging into a box of cereal. As soon as she wakes up from her nap, she climbs into her highchair and waits to be fed. She also loves to read books. At bedtime, I have to hide books because she'll insist that they ALL have to be read. She loves to color and draw and she even recognizes the words - Holly, Mommy, Daddy and Anders. When she reads books, she likes to find the letters she knows. She loves to sing as well. Some of her favorites are the Popcorn Song, Jesus Wants Me for A Sunbeam, I Am A Child of God, Once There Was A Snowman, Jingle Bells, Ring Around the Rosies, and Row Row Row Your Boat. She is a mamma's girl, but is recently taking to others (like daddy, granny, cousins aunts and nursery leaders) more willingly, which is a good thing with baby brother on his way. We are so blessed that Holly is in our family. We love her a ton.