We went down to St. George last weekend for my brother's wedding open house. We got lots of fun pictures from the wedding and it was such a fun event... but I don't have any of the pictures of my own because I forgot my camera (seriously?!, I know). So when I get pictures from others that took them, I'll post more. Weddings don't happen every day you know :)

So today both of my girls slept in. In fact, it's 8:30 and Marin is still asleep. Kate slept from 8:30 last night until 8:00 this morning. Hallelujah!!! I guess my girls were a bit tuckered out from our weekend. It sure was fun, but St. George it HOT. How did I ever live there during the summer?

While I have a little free time I'm going to jot down some of the cute things my girls are doing right now. You may be thinking, "Oh great, here she goes again about her kids." But oh well. Like my friend Jen commented the other day, it's my blog and no one has to read it if they don't want to. Oh, and like my other friend Courtney, I freely admit to having "Amazing Baby Syndrome." I do understand these things are normal things for kids and babies to do. But since they're mine, I think it's amazing.

Kate:
- Drools herself silly. Wets the front of her shirt clear down to her belly with just spit.
- Screeches like crazy. My mom said she's never heard a baby screech that loud. It's not a mad screech, just a "Hey, here I am, don't forget about me!" screech. Her forehead turns purple it takes so much effort.
- Shoves her fist down her throat, or at least tries to.
- Rolls to her tummy milliseconds after she is laid down NO MATTER WHAT. Which leads me to the next bullet...
- Spits up on everything when she rolls onto her tummy.
- Is the most good-natured, happy baby on Earth.
- Tries to sit up in her car seat or bouncer.
- Never holds still. She is constantly kicking and flailing and bobbing her head.
- Loves Marin the most. She watches Marin and smiles and smiles if Marin pays her the slightest bit of attention.
- Gets a kick out of kids swinging at the park. She giggles and giggles if I stand in front of the swings. Somethings about it just hits her funny bone.
- Guzzles her bottle and totally lunges for it, but is very particular. Even if I add 1 ounce of formula, she won't drink it!
- Has her entire family wrapped around her little pudgy cute finger.

Marin:
- Loves to dress up in things not intended to be dress-ups. Like my dresses, or slips, or skirts.
- Loves to wear her swimming suits... well pretty much loves to wear anything BUT her regular clothes.
- Snuck out of the house around 8:00 in the morning in her swimming suit 3 days in a row. Was covered in mosquito bites, the little stinker!
- Has been using the word "actually" lately. Whenever I ask her a question, she starts it with, "Actually, mom..."
- When I told her she had to pick up the toys in her room before she could go outside she said, "Well mom, your hair is not pretty! It looks like a boy!" My hair was in a ponytail.
- When I yelled across the street for her to come home for dinner she said, "Mom, say it again nice or I'm going to run through Denise's [our neighbor with a beautiful yard] flower beds!"
- Has recently begun refusing to say her prayers. She tells me she's "a little too busy right now" and asks me to say them for her. However, she interrupts me, reminding me what to say the whole time.
- Pretends with her dolls and it's so dang hilarious to listen to... most of the time. I say that because often I hear myself in the pretending and remember I need to watch what I say. For example, the other day I heard her saying, "No, you are not being a good listener! You are going to time out until you are ready to talk nice!"
- Told her friend the other day, "If you don't start being nice, I will throw you out the window!" I promise I've never told her that!
- Calls my mom "Grandma St. George" and Mitch's mom "Grandma Wyoming" and loves them both!
- Calls Kate "Little Sweetie" and talks to her in the same high-pitched baby-talk voice I use all the time.
- Has Mitch wrapped around her finger and gets him to dress up and pretend to be the handsome prince quite often.

There's a lot more I could write, but don't worry, I'm done for now. The other day Kate had a total blow-out messy diaper and right in the middle of that, Marin yelled for me to please help her wipe. Two bums to wipe at the same time... what a glorious "mom" moment! I just had to sit back and laugh at the situation. I'm grateful for those two little bums and the rest of them too! Life is good!

Members Only

I just have to announce that I am now a member of a very exclusive club called "The Finer Things Club" (you may have heard of something similar on "The Office"). Yesterday we were graced with the presence of our good friends Kyle and Lindy Dimond and their 2 cute girls (Kyle was Mitch's former roommate, now fast on his way to becoming Dr. Dimond in North Carolina). Since the other 2 of Mitch's former roommates, Matt and Rueben, still live here in Cache Valley, they all went golfing while the girls hung out and watched the kids. We were planning on dinner at Avree's house, and were just waiting for the boys to finish golfing...little did we know, the boys had a little something up their sleeves. When they got home, Matt quickly ushered the girls out of the house for a little tour of the yard. When our tour was finished, we entered the house and much to our surprise, a beautiful table setting, complete with a cucumber melon candle was awaiting us. I can't describe the beauty of it in words, so I'll show you a picture. Yes, those are Bluebird chocolates!

I'll bet you're wondering what that papers on our plates said. Well don't worry, I'm about to tell you.

"Finer Things Club"

If you are reading this paper right now you have been chosen to be part of the exclusive club known as the "Finer Things Club". Please take a moment to catch your breath before you continue reading.

The "Finer Things Club" is an ancient organization that was founded by cavemen in an effort to give their cavewomen a break from cavekid duties. Members of the "Finer Things Club" were invited to discuss fine literature and dine on fine cuisine. After a refreshing discussion about the literature and a splendid meal the members were invited to participate in a physical activity, usually a sport. When the physical activity was complete the members were served a finely crushed ice as a way to cool down and conclude the gathering.

As a newly inducted member of the "Finer Things Club" you are entitled to a finely prepared meal and an evening of literature discussion and physical activity. Please hand over your kids and enjoy your evening. You have earned it!


These were our 2 very distinguished waiters (Mitch and Matt were designated the babysitters). We were treated to gourmet sandwiches (provided by Subway), grapes, chips, and canteloupe.


Notice the chips arranged so exquisitely in the casserole dish?


Oh, and we musn't forget to point out the lovely tablecloth and napkins.

Well there you have it. It was a very fun-filled evening. Don't you wish you were me?

Nothin' like .....

....getting rejected via the world wide web, ha ha. Since I'm now a blogger and a Facebooker I've had the awesome experience of a friend or acquaintance either a) making fun of me through a comment on my blog, b) ignoring my initial salutations on Facebook or their blog, or c) going private without inviting me in. All I can say is, I hope I never have to do any online dating! I just don't know if I could take that kind of rejection! :)

Swimming Lessons

Earlier in the summer Marin took swimming lessons at our local aquatic center. She being my first child, it was our first "lessons" experience. I had a total "mom" moment when they called her name for her class and she skipped off to be with her teacher without a second of hesitation and said "Go mom!" I was happy that she was so confident, but had that "ohh" feeling in my gut thinking how sad I am that she is so old! Anyway, she loved her swimming lessons, is way more confident in the water, and cannot get enough of swimming. She would go all day every day if I'd let her!

10 reasons why my husband is cool

Okay, don't worry, this is not a mushy ode to how wonderful my husband is. Not that I don't think that, and not that I don't think many of the things my fellow bloggers say about their husbands are truly sweet... but it's just not my style to say romantic-type things on my oh-so-public blog.

Anyway, you know how there are certain things that are totally random that are sort of endearing about your significant other? Well here are a few of mine:

1. He thinks purple and pink match... as in, putting Marin or Kate in a purple shirt and pink pants is an acceptable combination.

2. He researches sporting equipment for like 10 years before he actually makes a purchase... then after he finally does make the purchase he continues to research for the next 10 years
just to make sure he got the nicest thing for the best deal possible...but he also takes super good care of his stuff.

3. He messes up idioms or cliches every single time he tries to use them. Then if I correct him he says he meant to do it and makes up a huge explanation as to why he said it the way he did (joking of course).

4. He teases me about blogging and Facebooking and always asks me if so-and-so is my Facebook friend yet or not (in a very sarcastic manner).

5. I have been informed that he is the resident lawn-care expert at his office and that many co-workers come to him for advice on their lawns. He has researched the topic extensively and our yard and lawn get a lot of TLC from him.

6. He is somewhat of a germophobe. Ask him if you can borrow his chapstick or drink from his straw sometime if you'd like to see him really squirm (although he does share these things with me, for obvious reasons).

7. I do the majority of our housework, but randomly he will get grossed out by something and clean it... like the fans in our bathroom or the bugs in a light fixture.

8. When he doesn't shave, his mustache grows a lot faster than the rest, but it doesn't grow right in the middle-- think of Rhett Butler's from "Gone With the Wind", only red.

9. He likes sweets almost as much as me.

10. And last, but not least, he is such a little kid, as in-- he has a never-ending supply of energy when it comes to playing (working too actually)... whether it be fishing or hunting with his brothers, skiing or mountain-biking with Matt (brother-in-law) who also seems to have a never-ending supply of energy, or Marin who is yet another little person who never runs out of energy.

Well there you have it. I'd love to hear your top 10's fellow bloggers, it's a good exercise in remembering why you like hanging around these guys so much!

Addendum: After 2 comments on the fact that purple and pink match (geez guys, way to get technical on me!), I must say... I know that purple and pink match, my girls have lots of clothes that have both colors on them. However, I don't think a plain purple shirt and plain pink pants necessarily match-- or a pink patterned shirt and a purple patterned shirt (patterns not the same) really match either. But hey, I've been known to wear clothes that don't match, so I'm definitely not the matching expert!