Morgan's Birthday

On Monday for Morgan's birthday we went to the park and the library and had a picnic and then when Daddy got home we went to the temple to take some pictures by the tulips, which were GORGEOUS! We then took the kids to the Mayan (a mexican restaurant with cliff divers) and the kids were so excited! They loved watching the people dive into the water & the food was good too. We all had a fun day... especially Morgan.
This is one of my favorite pictures of her. She's 5!!!!!
Another cute picture of her. :)
Now this is a scrapbook page I did of the Doll House. This was my mom and my aunts when they were little that my grandparents had made for them and given them one year for Christmas. When my mom moved back here, they gave it to her and she decided that we could have it at our house. Yay! I wasn't too excited to get it because I knew there would be a lot of work involved, but then I thought about fixing all the rooms up with scrapbook paper, painting it, and giving it to Morgan for her birthday to use for all her Polly Pockets. So... my project began, and I have worked on it for the last month whenever Morgan is at school, or at night when the kids are asleep. We had to tell Jackson it was for their cousin Madeline so he wouldn't tell Morgan. ;) Brian did a nice roof for it, and all the rooms are done! Yay! Morgan was so excited & she and Jackson have had a lot of fun already playing with it. I Love the way it turned out, and I'm so glad it's done! Yay! No on to my next project :)

Happy Birthday Morgan!

Today Morgan is 5 years old! I still remember being pregnant with her & being so anxious to start our little family. Brian and I were so excited to bring home a baby girl & we had drawers and drawers full of little baby girl clothes from showers that I couldn't wait to try on her. :) Morgan has been so much fun! Brian says, "Every Dad needs a little girl!" He and Morgan are so close, and even though Morgan likes to be independent she still loves her Mommy & Daddy.
Here are 5 things I love about Morgan....
1. She is ALWAYS keeping Brian & I on our toes with her teasing & fun personality. She can alwasy make us smile.
2. She really has a tenderheart, and if she ever gets in trouble, we have to talk calmly to her or her eyes will fill up with tears and she'll run and throw herself on her bed and cover her head with her pillow... very dramatic :)
3. She is so thoughtful. Many times she will have a treat like cookies or candy, and she will always save it for Jackson or Daddy because she knows they will enjoy it more than she would.
4. She is such a good big sister! She is constantly taking care of Hallie & making her laugh, and she is Jackson's best friend.
5. She is a great helper around the house & brings so much happiness to our family.
After church Brian and I decorated her cake (for the family party we had last night) We wouldn't let her come into the kitchen to see it until it was all done, and she was SO excited about the rainbow cake! She draws rainbows on everything, so I knew it would be the perfect cake. She got a really happy look on her face and said, "I want to eat the five, and the cloud, and all the orange and yellow (orange is her favorite color), and..." she kept staring at it trying to decided where to dig in at. She ended up eating the 5. :)
Grandpa & Grandma Smith gave her this Fancy Nancy boa, purse & glasses. She is such a cutie & it will go perfectly with all of her dress up stuff.
Here she is with her 5! 5 years old! Wow! We are so happy to have her in our lives and are so grateful she is our little girl. Happy Birthday Princess! We love you!

My Funny Story

Today after the Easter Egg hunt we had a couple of errands to run, one of which was to Shopko for an Easter tie for Jackson. I told Brian I would be really quick and ran in looked for the ties, but unfortunatly they were all gone, so instead of browsing around I ran out because I knew Brian would be happy I went fast... this is the story in my version, but you'll will have to get another version of the story from 2 other people... :)

Me thinking : Brian will be so proud of me for going so quick!
I stepped outside the doors and looked to my left where Brian usually parks when I run in somewhere really quick, but he isn't there.
Me looking & thinking: Oh, there he is, he parked the van like he usually does when he thinks I'm going to be a while.
I start running to the van. I notice that the brake lights are on, and he looks like he's going to reverse, but then he sees me and stays in place.
I get to the van & swing the door open and start to get in, but then I notice something...
Me thinking: "Wow, that's a really big leg across the passenger seat. That's like 3 times the size of Brian's leg. " And then I look up and see a man that IS NOT BRIAN... unless Brian had a really quick surgery done to make him look like a BIG man.
The Man says: Oops wrong car & smiles.
Me thinking: "What? Where's Brian?"
I say: "Oh" with a confused look on my face and shut the door and leave.
At this point, Brian has seen me running, opening up some other car to get in that by the way looked THE EXACT SAME. He starts thinking & laughing "oh this is going to be good!"

I just laughed and laughed while I was in the car. I started crying and shaking because it was so funny. The poor guy... What was he thinking as some random girl gets in his car? At least he'll have a fun story to tell his family. Thankfully I didn't get in and buckle up, but if his leg wasn't in the way I might have. ;)

ha ha ha ha ha ... I hope this gives you a good holiday laugh... at my expense. :) Happy Easter!
(I wish I could get the version from the man & of course Brian. ) :)

The Easter Egg Hunt

Today we took the kids to the city Easter Egg hunt. I grew up doing this every year and loved it, so I figured we better start the tradition with our kids. It was cold and rainy, and a sweet girl in Hallie's section shared her umbrella with me... how nice! So here we were, crazy parents along with all the other crazy parents there to get our kids in the rain to go after a plastic egg with one piece of candy in it. Here's Jackson & Morgan with their friend and neighbor Makell. They were really excited to begin the race. Brian took pictures of them while I went with Hallie. I love the 1-2 year old group. It is so calm, and there are tons of eggs for the kids to take their time.
At the beginning... they didn't look to happy afterward. Jackson saw a cool bike and said while almost breaking down, "But I want that bike!" Poor guy! ;)
My cute Hallie. She wasn't very interested in the eggs. I carried her out to the middle and set her down with about 10 eggs around her and she just watched everyone else, so I put some eggs in her basket and a couple on the ground for her to pick up, but she just watched me and thought I was crazy for bringing her out in the rain for some a piece of candy that was as hard as a rock. ;)
My sister was going to meet us over there with her girls but was about 3 minutes too late, so I got a egg for each of her girls (3) when I was opening them to see if there was anything we needed to claim, Brian said he kept getting dirty looks from people since I had to many eggs... but listen.. the limit was 4/ kid... which Hallie had, and the other ones were for my little nieces waiting in their car and wishing they had made it in time... of course we couldn't explain that to everyone that walked by, so they probably just think I'm the crazy lady that just does this so I can collect them all for myself. ; )
Now honestly... doesn't that bunny freak you out too? I'm sure it was a nice sweet girl underneath... but a little freaky. After Jackson couldn't get the bike I told him we were going to go and see the Easter Bunny. He was so excited until he saw the Easter Bunny and then his hands got tighter around my hand. I LOVE the look of these 2 kids next to the Easter Bunny. Maybe I shouldn't tell them he/she will be coming tonight. They are still tramatized from Uncle Jeff scaring them with a fake Santa Claus Christmas Eve. :)

How do you discipline your kids?

Usually our kids are pretty good at going to bed. After the usual "Mommy, I need a drink" or "Daddy, but I have to go potty!" they are usually asleep every night by 7:30 which is my relaxation time and time to get things done. So last night we did the same routine, only this time, the kids did NOT want to cooperate! I tried everything (Brian was outside working on the yard) I tried soap (because Morgan was talking about boogers & being gross...which is not acceptable) :) I tried talking to them smoothly about the fun day we were going to have tomorrow and how they needed to get to sleep. I tried laying by them for a little bit and rubbing their backs... NOTHING WAS WORKING and I was getting frustrated & majorly loosing my patience! Finally after 8:45, I gave up, locked the door (they have a fan in their room, so the I turned the light off on that) and then left. I heard them a little bit and they were still talking. Finally at about 9:15, they were still awake and I told Brian they wouldn't listen to me, so it was up to him. So Brian told them that since they wouldn't listen to me and sleep in their beds, then they lost the privelage to sleep in their beds. Therefore, they each got different...uncomfortable... places to sleep.
Jackson got to sleep on the floor in Brian's closet, and Morgan got to sleep in the kids bathroom. Suprisingly they went to sleep. How uncomfortable! Hopefully this taught them something. ;)
If they would just sleep like Hallie... all would be well, other then waking up with a sore body from the postion she sleeps in. :)

Conference Weekend

Growing up we always played bingo with M & M's for conference, so I found some really cute & different bingo cards online the other day & Morgan & I had fun coloring them during the first session. When our family first moved in our home, we were running behind for conference and still hadn't eaten breakfast, so Brian brought the small T.V. into the kitchen so we could watch while we ate. It has now become a really fun tradition & really nice breakfast that we all love.
My cute boys!
And of course we have to have the during conference nap. Brian says he was listening, but somehow he & Jackson were out cold during the last session. I asked him what Elder Bednar talked about, since he was right in the middle of all the talks, and Brian told me exactly what he had been talking about... I swear he was out & wasn't paying attention. :) I wish I could listen & sleep at the same time. :)
This was the other day, when the weather was really nice and Brian had just gotten home from work. The kids wanted to show Daddy their new glasses that Mommy had magically found.