Growing up, and up and up...

Porter had his 7 month checkup (actually his 6 monthm but I'm a little behind!). And just to let all you people who call this bouncing baby HUGE- he is in the 50th percentile for his height and weight... meaning he is perfectly average. His head is 50th percentile too!

One last thing before bed...

Found another fun freebie site- love them! See it here! I love her pages, make sure you take a peek.

We're off to see the wizard...

We went to my sister's house tonight for her neighborhood's annual Halloween party, so I got a chance to see my seamstress work in action (oh yeah- I made these costumes!). I found a few kinks (Piper's skirt ripped in the back), but all in all a pretty good run! Piper couldn't decide whether she wanted to wear her Glenda costume or her new skirt and shirt... needless to say, she is wearing both!



Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Halloween?




Porter got the most comments- couldn't you just eat this little face right up?

There were at least 10 other Dorothys, but Adi still shined!

Everyone thought Pipes was a princess... you'd think that since Adi was Dorothy and Porter was the scarecrow, it'd be a natural leap!

Scarecrow is just plain tuckered-out!

My Boy

{metal grunge by Tangie, swirls & background by Simply Clean (altered color)}



Porter has now learned how to do "push-ups"... such talent! By the way, thanks for the jammies Nana!

* Found another awesome freebie site here: good luck reading it, though- it's foreign!

"Cleaning" Their Room

**Notice how Piper pretends to clean when she notices me? Or how Adi tries to hide in the closet when she sees me?**

What are you two supposed to be doing right now?

Oh, the girls. It's funny how they follow under my feet all day, asking me play or if they can have a snack or watch TV or play play-dough... but as soon as I tell them to clean their room, POOF! They are gone and I don't hear from them for hours. Of course, their room is 100 times messier than when they first went in there, but they are playing so good together! I tried to join in their play today, here's how the conversation went:

Mom: So who are you guys?
Adi: I'm the mom
Piper: And you're Ella Enchanted too!
Adi: No, just the mom right now
Piper: Oh.
Adi: Remember?
Piper: I'm the mermaid, but not the mermaid that swims, the one that sings
Adi: No you're the daughter
Piper: No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (followed by unintelligable screaming)
Adi: Fine, you be who you want!
Piper: Fine, I will!
Adi: The cow is Papa and the bunny is Nana
Mom: So who am I?
Piper: You can be Aunt Whitney (my own baby sis)
Mom: Ewww... I don't want to be her, I'll be a princess
Piper: No, Aunt Whitney is pretty and nice and smells good
Mom: Ok, if I have to be. What should you guys be doing right now?
***cloud of dust as they run back into their room and slam their door***

Oh, the joys of motherhood!

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

We took a trip to the Phoenix Zoo on Saturday- I'd forgotten how much it is! Piper enjoyed walking around without her cast, Adi liked the popcorn OP bought for the girls and Porter liked the taste of his straps. All-in-all, it was a good trip- we saw the tiger pacing, the female lion wandering, the bear and its cub sunning themselves and Orrin convincing the girls that they don't really want to ride the carousel (Daddy had spent the last of his cash on the popcorn).

Free at last!

Yeah! I am oh-so-happy to announce that Miss Piper Pauline is free from that horrible (and extremely stinky) cast! She was favoring it still for a few hours after it was taken off, but her Aunt Whit turned on High School Musical 2 for her, and she jumped up and was a'dancing away with Sharpey and Gabriella. Wahoo for Pipes! Check later and I should have some pics up (although I'm not promising anything!).

Freebie Hunting

I've been searching for some more fun and free digi scrapbooking freebies and I have found ablog that I love. Raspberry Road Designs has tons of cute freebies... Whit, check it out- it has a nurse kit! Love the freebies!

How's our day been going?

Need I say more?

Ah, blessed naptime...

Today, as miraculous as it sounds, I am actually caught up on all my fun household chores, so I decided that I could spend an afternoon digi-scrapping- guilt free!

*Everything on Adi's page, except the fasteners, is from the Happy Thoughts kit from Tangie's store. Thanks Tangie! The frame around Pip is from Tangie's Forrest Floor Embelleshments. Everything else is from Elemental Scraps.

My beautiful boy

Oh, the memories...

Just scrapped an old wedding pic- I can't believe how young we were!

You can't stop the beat!

My Pipes sure loves to sing! Today she was singing, at the top of her lungs I might add, "You Can't Stop The Beat" from Hairspray (her most favorite movie)- and wiggling her behind like crazy. What other 3 year old can remember all the words to a five minute song?

A sweet spirit...

Yesterday, Adi came and sat by me holding a purple notebook. "Mom," she looked at me with her huge blue eyes. "I wrote down my testimony." Sure enough, there was a page inside full of her own little symbols- there's even a little signature at the end. I think my heart swelled ten-times it's normal size! She is so sweet- when she says prayers, she has started saying, "Thank you for the Book of Mormon and please bless we will behold Jesus." It's amazing how spiritual these youngins are!



*the papers, ribbons, label, flowers & butterfly is from Tangie's Buttercup Butterfly kit! The swirls (altered colors) are from Shabby Princess, and the staples from Simply Clean.

My Beautiful Boy

I just got Porter-Boy's pictures back- don't you just want to kiss those fat cheeks? He's still trying to scoot, but usually gets tired and ends up rolling wherever he wants to go! Adi and Piper are already starting to have problems with him... he rolls over to their toys (usually Polly Pockets), and tries to eat them. This becomes quite the screaming match since mommy told the girls that if Porter ever got ahold of one of their Pollys he could choke. Another little problem: the stuffed cow. Adi and Piper like to pretend that it is Papa (my dad- they say it's him because of his "big feet and big belly"), but it is one of Porter's favorite toys to chew on. Needless to say, Piper and Porter are having some pulling contests already!

Halloween sure is scary, decorating for it I mean

I'm a little behind this year with getting all of my decorations up. Maybe it's because I've been sewing costumes. Or maybe because of my new obsession with digi scrapping. Or maybe, just maybe, it's because I have three little angels who seem to turn into devils whenever I try to do something that requires my attention away from them. Finally, I let them destroy the house with stuff to entertain them (and build Porter a little play house just for him).




The biggest detour in my decorating plans however, came not from my children but from a couple of chirping baby birds. I started putting up some lights & spiderwebs in my tree, when I noticed a little yellow-breasted bird hopping around the branches and chirping like crazy. Upon further inspection I found a tiny nest tucked up in, full of baby birds. I tried to get a picture, but the mommy bird did a pretty good job of hiding it!


So my plans for the front yard have been derailed, but the girls had a ball looking at the babies!

Just one more thing today, I promise...

Play this little game- it's so much fun!

My Little Page...

Everything is from Tangie's new store! The paper, flower & ribbon is from the Takayama Mini Kit and the frame is Decrow Design basic frames!

Shopping galore!

Congratulations to OP's cousin- her new store Tangie Baxter Designs is having it's grand openeing today- check it out, everything is on sale!

Nostalgic Nanny's Stew

Yesterday was the perfect day for the first day of October, was it not? It was (a little) cooler, overcast and gray. I had Halloween music playing while my girls and I put up all the fun decorations around the house. My mom called to tell how stormy the weather in Utah is, and I started remembering my childhood Falls up there. I decided that the one thing that would make the day perfect would be Nan's stew. As I chopped the potatoes and fried the meat, I ended up feeling all nostalgic and down- I miss Nan, I miss Sundays at Rhonda's, I'm all alone in this house out here in the middle of the bare, ugly desert... blah, blah blah. But then my girlies started playing "Wizard of Oz" and the baby was talking away in his highchair. I realized that, while I cannot make my stew anything near Rhonda's and Nanny's- it's still pretty darn good, and I am in pretty good company- even though I'm still in the middle of the desert :)



"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." -Dr. Seuss

*if you look carefully at the picture, you'll see the stew on the stove!

Busy, busy...

Oh brother, it's been a fun weekend! We had a garage sale on Saturday to purge our home of all the junk that accumulates in a year... and a lot, a lot of little girl clothes! Some garage salers are so funny... no matter how cheap an item is, they try to talk you down even lower. It was quite the headache, but the money I got went towards new fall clothes for the three kids (whew- clothes for three kids is expensive, let me tell you. Shoes will break the bank!).

Last night at family night, Orrin was teaching the girls about reverence (after a pretty rowdy sacrament meeting), and Piper kept going off on a tangent about buggies walking in a line. I finally asked her to just listen to Daddy and stop talking. She told me that buggies go to church too, and need to learn how to act nicely s they won't make Jesus sad. Oh, my Pipes!

The girls were extra good this weekend during the garage sale, so they got to stay up late last night and watch High School Musical 2, and even though they had a HUGE shake for FHE treats, Adi only lasted half an hour and Piper lasted an hour. What time is it? Sleepy time!