My confession.

 I sometimes feel like a slacker mom.  The house will be a disaster, I'll yell at the kids over silly things, and I'm just overall not measuring up.  I haven't left the kids that many times over the years but when I do I secretly wish that I will come home to a mess, that Mat will have locked himself in a room, the kids will be fighting, and I can swoop in and save the day.

 That my friends has NEVER happened.  The worst I ever came home to was a rearranged and still not put entirely back together kitchen. I kept calling the kids and Mat while I was in San Francisco and they always seemed to be off having fun with each other.  They completed a HUGE primary project for me as well.  Mat even had them all ready and at our 9:00 am church.  I was sure I would come home to a sink full of dishes and I could do that swooping in thing.

 Nope, not only did the kids get to go hiking and out to dinner, they made crafts and built things with Mat.  They cleaned out closets, did all the laundry, and had posters and cute little popsicle stick buildings for me when I came through the door.

 I missed them so much and admit I would rather have been doing all of the fun things with them.  I want them to experience everything I get to as well.  Although, I would have loved to play super hero and hear Mat ramble on and on about how amazed he is that I can function at the house on a daily basis, I WAS happy to come home to such a clean and put together home. 

Girl's Trip

 Last week I got to turn in my mom card for the weekend and be Jamie again.  My friends invited me on a girl's trip to San Francisco.  I hadn't been since I was a kid and wanted/needed a break.  I was hesitant about leaving Mat and the kids but knew they were in good hands.  As we were waiting for our flight a gentlemen in the airport told us that if were weren't careful we could easily end up in th e"Tenderloin District" and that we should avoid it at all costs.  Easier said then done.  Before we had even checked into our hotel one of the gal's wallets was stolen.  We got to then take a walk into the scary part of town since that was the closet police department.  I was SHOCKED!  My kids reveled in the stories of hobos every five feet and human feces on the sidewalk.  I seriously almost stepped in some! What a CRAZY city!

 While we were there we did all of the very touristy stuff.  We rented Segways, took pictures on trollys, and visited Alcatraz.  Our Alcatraz visit made us feel like celebrities.  We had connections for a private guided tour and after 6 hours spent on the island I'm relatively sure that I saw it all! Anywhere where there were signs posted to stay out or locked doors that we were supposed to just gander though windows we had access to.  We got to go to the top of the lighthouse, the top of the jail, and the citadels, which basically no one ever has access to.  Everytime we went somewhere behind a locked door we had people trying to follow and got a little chuckle everytime they were scolded for trying to follow us. 

Such a fun group of girls and a VERY memorable trip!

The necessities of life.

Awww...my baby girl!  It's January and her "must haves" are a swimsuit, boots, and her "mochit" milk in a pink princess sippy cup.  Truly is there anything more important to life than this?

Here we are again...

 More than 8 years ago, we were renting a house while building our Catawba Circle home.  I remember getting my baby girl Bailey ready for her first day of dance.  She wore a lavender leotard and her hair was cut into a crop so she wore it long.  I remember thinking she was far too little to be beginning dance but she was so excited to start! I remember getting the film developed and being shocked at how old she actually looked.

 The cycle has begun again.  I took some similar photos of Peyton before her first dance class!  Her hair needed to be in a bun since it is quite long and she wore pink instead of purple, but I feel as though I get a special pass to be able to experience the same things I did with Bailey with a sassy twist that Peyton provides.

She LOVED her first day of class.  I was concerned she would be hesitant about me leaving but once she saw that her cousin Riley and her friend Sadie from nursery were there she could have cared less that I left.  She's growing...far too fast!

Noteworthy for SURE!

After 2 1/2 weeks off for Christmas vacation for the kiddos, and inches upon inches of rainfall during that break, I was less than enthused that the last day the kids would have off from school was fore casted for rain with a possibility of snow.  Thanksgiving weekend was unseasonably cold, and while Christmas was plenty warm outside I was growing tired of kids being cooped up in the house every flippin' day!  My body was still accustomed to waking up at 6:00 in time to get Bailey ready for school so I was pleasantly surprised to peak out the window first thing and see our yard covered in white.  It was still dark outside so I flipped on the back flood lights and saw that it was still snowing!  I was so excited for the kids to get up and hoped it wouldn't melt before they had a chance to play in it.  They woke up at 8:00 and while going outside to see how cold it was saw the snow and within minutes were suited up and out the door.  It was quite powdery so they had trouble building their forts and making snowmen but it wasn't long before the backyard was bombarded by neighborhood kids and it became one big snowball fight.  I was thrilled that on the kids final day of their break they FINALLY got snow instead of rain! Even more thrilled that after all this IS Southern Utah and the majority of the snow is already gone and I don't have to deal with the mess anymore. ;)

Ringing in the New Year

 Since Bailey was a wee little baby we started having New Year's parties.  Over the years they have escalated into some really fun competitions for the adults.  Each couple takes a turn hosting and usually puts a ton of time into making it a blast with games and prizes to be won.  This year the couple hosting backed out at the last minute and everyone seemed to be exhausted from Christmas so we spent New Year's Eve with our kiddos this year.  I think it is actually the first time we have rung in the New Year with Caleb, Easton, and Peyton at all!  Bailey of course had places she'd rather be then hang out at home with her parents so she went to a couple of different parties at her friends houses while Mat and I hung back with the younger kids.  We bought snacks and rented movies and planned on partying until midnight.  I had to leave after we had watched a movie with the boys to transport Bailey to a different friend's house and when I came back the boys had settled in the put a puzzle together.  I thought I'd better hurry and help them assemble it so that we could move onto funner things.  By the time we solved the puzzle however, it was 15 minutes before midnight.  Peyton had fallen asleep during the movie and I was shocked at how quiet our little party was.  I loved it!  When midnight hit the boys went out front and blew air horns and banged the pot lids together.  We could see the fireworks from downtown so all in all it was pretty fun.  Plus, like always, I got my New Year's kiss from the best looking guy around!!!