Buddy

I love this kid! He makes us laugh and smile a lot. Overall he is a very happy little guy, but as mentioned before when he's mad... he can throw a tantrum with the best of them! If he doesn't get what he wants he'll clench his little fists and scream, loud! Sometimes we have to remind him to breath. Brother... I just have to roll my eyes and let him get it out... because, NO he can't have the pen while he is climbing the stairs! (We've already done that once.) Oh, and diaper changes and getting dressed... not his favorite thing.

Bry has the cutest giggles. He loves to play games and to be teased. He loves playing hide and seek. In fact when picking him up from my parents after being out of town, he was in the kitchen and I was walking in saying, "Where's my buddy?!" Once in the kitchen I see him sitting there with both hands over his eyes and a big grin on his face. Bryson loves to run. He's still a little wobbly at times, but he's getting better and better. He wants to keep up with all the big kids around and to be doing whatever they are doing.

He loves the bath and gets so excited when I turn the water on. He'll start, saying 'ba', signing 'bath' and will get a big grin. I bet we'll have fun swimming this year. He also loves to go outside and to go places. He usually gets excited to put on his jacket.

He doesn't have a whole bunch of words yet but he is quite the jabber-er :) He holds conversation and tells us stories in his own little made up language (which always makes people smile). One word he's gotten down is "bite" (okay the 't' isn't real crisp, but its there). But what I haven't figured out is his hiss. He hisses ("tsssss") and points to things he wants to eat all the time. Not quite sure where he got that one from. He does say: bye, hi, mama, dada, and lots of beginnings of words. He signs: bye/hi, milk, food/eat, more, all done, banana, apple (kind of), cracker, cheese, bath (that's all I can think of for now).

There's lots more to say about our little man. (I'll have to write more soon... I know you all love reading all about my children!) I had to at least start getting these things written down. I love this little guy so much. (Doesn't he make you smile too?!)

Ballerina, Dorothy, and Primary

Hannah had some special days last week. On Thursday she got to go to a friends ballerina birthday party and had a ball! Notice the blue lips from her blue ring pop.That evening, Hannah and I had a little date to got see The Wizard of Oz, a community youth theater production. One of my YW, Marinda J, was starring as Dorothy! Hannah was Dorothy for Halloween, so I thought it would be extra fun for her to go. Hannah even dressed up! Everyone kept ooing and ahhing over how cute "that little Dorothy" was. Marinda did a fantastic job! And afterward, Hannah got to have her picture taken with "Dorothy." She thought that was so cool. When the girl who played Glinda, the good witch, saw Hannah, she went over to Marinda (Dorothy) and told her she just had to go say hi to that cute little Dorothy and she was sure it would make her day. Of course we had already taken pictures with Marinda but this gave us an opportunity to get a picture with Dorothy, the good witch and the bad witch... Hannah wasn't so sure about that bad witch, but still seemed to feel so special!On Saturday, Hannah went to her first primary activity day. A girl from the Bean Museum came. The kids got to touch a snake, lizard, and turtle. The first one was a snake and Hannah was hesitant. I helped her and after that she didn't hesitate at all with the lizard or turtle. They also had a little Easter egg hunt, which was fun. Each of the kids got to have 15 eggs. Hannah wanted to get more. She said, "Dad told me to get lots of eggs! Sunday, the primary sang a couple songs in sacrament meeting. Although Hannah didn't sing all the words, it was so fun to see her up there. I love primary and am so excited for the new opportunity it is bringing!

Next up, a post about our cute Bry.

Super Why... and What, Who & How...

Hannah enjoys watching the cartoon Super Why. Well, I think we've got our own little Super Why on our hands... and a Super What, Who and How! Another favorite show is Sid the Science Kid. Sid says something like this at the end of every show, "And remember keep asking lots of questions." She has definitely taken his advise to heart!Hannah is constantly asking questions about how things work, why she has to do things (of course), who, what.... questions, questions, questions! She has a very inquisitive mind and she loves to learn. I try to facilitate learning whenever possible, because she gobbles it right up. Lately we have been working on reading and rhyming.

My sister Lisa (Lisa Bisa) is a rhymer! She is always coming up with silly words and sayings that rhyme. On Hannah's recent weekend at Grandma's, my mom said, "Lisa, I think you've met your match!" She told me later, "Hannah is a rhyming manic!" Rhyming is a literary skill, but I am so surprised she picked it up so quickly.We've also been working on reading. Hannah has known several sight words for quite a while now (such as the, and, in). I have a couple books, like Fat Cat, that work on a word family ("-at" words). Hannah was telling my mom about how she was reading these books and my mom gave Hannah a set of books (in a fun little back pack) to take home with her and work on. Mom said she needed to read each book at least 7 times then she could return them and get some more. These books worked on the short "a" sound. Hannah has loved reading them. And again has picked them up very quickly. There are days where we make absolutely no progress, where she is just being silly and I don't have the patience. But there are other days she'll sit down and read them all on her own. We just returned the first set and are now working on the short "i". (Hannah reading to her cousin Graysen.)

Here's a little video of Hannah reading from about a month ago (2/10/10).


Hannah has also learned the days of the week and we are working on writing letters (that "s" is a hard one). She soaks things up. I am grateful for her love of learning and love watching her grow so much.

Luxury

Last week Nic and I went on a fabulous trip to San Diego. Hunter Industries, a big sprinkler supply company, sent some people (and spouses) from Nic's former company, Gomez Landscaping. Knowing that we were leaving the company, we discounted going on the trip, but Clark, Nic's boss, said Nic helped earn the trip for them to go... so we went! And it was wonderful.(Clark and Ann)

Nic's parent's watched the kids Wednesday afternoon until Thursday evening. Then my parents and sister, Lisa, watched them until Saturday evening. We are so, so grateful for their love and service in our behalf! I knew my kids were being well taken care of and well loved!(a few things from the place we stayed)

On our trip, I felt like I was in a whole other world... filled with luxury living. Warm. Green. Relaxing. Delicious. FREE! We stayed in the Four Seasons Resort, super nice. The guys had a tour of the Hunter factory and some hands on product learning on Thursday and part of Friday. So I got to sleep in, read, one morning I got a room service brunch (an egg white omelet and fresh squeezed oj on Hunter!), a manicure with Ann (also on Hunter!), read by the pool, a nice walk in the courtyard, hot tub with Nic... and we all got to eat at some fabulous restaurants. The food really was amazing but the atmosphere was even better. There was a delicious Mexican restaurant with guys playing the guitar as we ate, an exquisite seafood place that sat right next to the ocean, and even a fun breakfast out on the patio at a place in Sea Port Village also next to the ocean.(room service)(Jenni - Do you think it's big enough?! We sure didn't go hungry!)

Our Friday afternoon was spent at Sea World, which was also so fun. We watched the sea lion show and the Shamu show. Unfortunately the trainers didn't get in the water with the whales. But I am still so amazed at what the whales learn to do. (I was sad the dolphin show was closed the day we were there.) We rode on the Atlantis ride and Jenni and I got pretty wet. I got to pet the sting rays. We saw polar bears, beluga whales, dolphins, sharks, and more. It was really fun, but I just kept thinking about how much Hannah and Bryson would have loved it. (Elmo and Zoe were even there.) We'll have to go back one of these days. (sea lion show)

(Brandon and Nic)(touching the sting ray... soft and slimy)(In the shark exhibit. There were sharks behind and above us... to bad you can't see them.)The trip was fabulous and much needed. Although I sure missed my kiddos, it was so nice to have some time to myself, to read without feeling guilty, to have a break from fixing dinner and doing laundry and also so much needed time with Nic. We'll have to do that again!( I didn't get a picture of Ryan, Becky, Alan, or Laurel... hopefully I'll get some from Alan! We sure enjoyed spending time with all of you.)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

One Shining Moment

There are very few things that bring Nic to tears
...or even close to tears.
Listening to "One Shining Moment" on Sunday was nearly one of those moments.
I'm not quite sure if it was from sheer disappointment.
His Tarheels won't even be participating in the big dance.
Or if it was from complete joy and excitement.
Welcome March Madness!

Hannah's usual prayer

...Thankful for me.
and thankful for us.
Thankful for me.
Thankful I can be happy.
Thankful for our nice house.
Thankful for me...

Look what I'm teaching Hannah...

Such a smart girl (Tee Hee) She asked me what she should write and I helped her with the spelling of "best". Hey, gotta teach 'em while they're young!

My little sickie

This has been life at our house this last week! Poor Hannah woke up Tuesday night (well... Wednesday morning at 3 am) throwing up. We changed the sheets 4 times over the next couple hours. She continued being yucky for days. Knowing she had all the flu symptoms I figured I'd wait it out 3 days, but on Friday I took her in to the doctor, worrying about her being dehydrated. Hannah was okay that way, but the doctor did proscribe zofran (the generic) for one end, recommended culturelle for the other, and ibuprofen for her achy little body. She wanted to be held and carried and just didn't have any energy. Finally, Monday no throwing up... but still super weak. Then Tuesday (yesterday)... TaDa! It was like a switch was turned and she was herself again! Wahoo! Unfortunately...

Tuesday morning Bryson slept in more than normal. I went into his room to check on him and there he was sitting up with snot running down to his month and throw up the rest of the way down, with a very glazed look. And so begins round two...

Macey's $0.77 chicken breasts!

There are a lot more important things I need to blog about, but I couldn't pass up passing on an awesome deal! I get so excited to share and get deals sometimes I can't sleep at night! I think about how I need to call my mom and neighbor, email my sister, or wonder if Nic's family will think I'm ridiculous. (I know, I'm a bit crazy!) But who doesn't love saving money!?! (That being said, I hope you will all pass on the awesome deals you find to me!)

So... Attention all locals. Attention Macey's shoppers!

You can get boneless skinless chicken breasts at Macey's for around $0.77/lb! That price is out of this world! The super saver packs are on sale for $1.49 (a great price right now, as it is) but Macey's sent out coupon books this week that makes the deal so much better. The coupons came in the mail with the ads. They usually arrive on Tuesdays. (I've heard if you didn't get one, you can just ask at customer service.) On the front cover is the coupon for $3.00 off a super saver pack (limit 2).I got two packs of chicken, adding up to 8.51 lbs. It would have come to $12.59, then minus $6.00 ($3 for each pack)... and my total was $6.59, which is about $0.77/lb! How awesome is that?!

There are some other great deals too. For example, there's a coupon for buy one get one free sour cream. It is on sale for $0.88 this week. Okay, now I can get on with my life... and with cooking my chicken!

PS. I know about this deal thanks to Pinching Your Pennies!

Home again!

It has been a week of ups and downs. I will start with the up... Tiffany, Nic's step-sister, came home from her mission on Wednesday! She served in Orlando, Florida. We were so excited to see her!Her plane was originally going to get in around 4 pm... then 8 pm... Tiff ended up getting here around 9:30 pm. We weren't at the airport at 4, but we were there for the 8:00 arrival. Hannah got to go on lots of walks and elevator rides with her uncle Dan and with Grandma Marj. It also made for a long night and very tired kids.We were all so excited to give Tiffany hugs and kisses, especially her mom, Marj. (Notice the bag Tiff dropped at the bottom of the escalators.) We are a pretty big group and we swarmed the place... especially the escalator area when Tiff was down!Here's Hannah giving Tiff hugs and showing her the sign she made. Tiff also got to meet Bryson for the first time. (Then pictures of lots of hugs from others as well.)Tiffany is a wonderful example to all. She has a spirit and testimony that radiates. Welcome home! We love you Tiffany!