OK, here's a lil' game...

Which one is Adi, which one is Pipes?

Leave your answer in the comments and we'll see who's correct... it won't be easy, seeing how they both have my eyes, my nose and OP's lips. Happy guessing!

P.S. Orrin didn't even get it right at first :P

The Girlies Demanded It...

and so I posted a couple of pages they scrapped all by themselves yesterday. Honestly, I helped them choose which paper they wanted and the little notions and left the room. Go check it out! Oh, the site is private, so if you'd like permission to look just send me an email or leave your email in the comments!

Hopscotch, Weeds and the Super-Intelligence of Snails

It was a somewhat-nice day here in Utah. It was pretty warm, but cloudy and windy... at least we didn't have to wear jackets, though. The problem is (you AZ people are going to be shocked) is that the temp is supposed to drop back down to 40 tomarrow.

I wish I was joking. But, alas, out comes the winter clothes again.

Anyway, we decided to get in all the beautiful weather we could. We...

And then, one of the snails that the girls so loving rescued from their Nana's Gardener Hands, showed it's gratefulness by sending a message to Pipes:

It is honestly the coolest thing that I have seen in a while! Oh, and her name (yes, it is a she- Piper just knows these things) is Gabriella if you were wondering....

P.S. You are probably wanting to know where the Little Monster Boy was during all this outside fun. Well, he decided to take a super nap of 3 hours and missed the whole thing. Poor Porter, he loves outside!

I *heart* Redbox

Have you heard of a nifty little thing called "Redbox" ? You get to rent $1 DVD's- we do it almost everyday! Seriously. I do. Anywho, we rented a new-realease Dora movie and all the kiddies were having a ball watching it, and I actually got to snap a pic!

Too Good of a Day

To stay inside! Yes, it is still chilly, but it is warm when compared with how the weather has been lately! We've been working with Adi learning to ride a bike without training wheels... she is kind of a scaredy cat, so it will probably take a while!

I also wanted to the fam we left back in AZ to see just how close the new temple is to where we live... isn't it awesome? We are practically going to have a temple in our backyard!

Here's a pic I snapped of the construction on it a couple of weeks ago:

P.S. For anyone who is paying attention to the posting time and wondering what the heck I'm doing blogging at this hour: Remember when I talked about Porter's fun new sleeping hours? Well, he has decided that at 3 AM he is no longer needing to sleep. YUP- 3 AM!

Just For Fun...

On this chilly Friday day, the kiddies and I decided that we would have a little fun. Forget the usual chores we do and the boring ol' rules we follow. We did a little ice cream crafty-picture thing. Yes, it has stamps for sprinkles, cotton balls for whipped cream and a pink heart jewel for a cherry. But, nevertheless, they are ice cream cones.

Then, we played a game: I'd ask a question and everytime they answered correctly, the girls' got a topping for their sundae. As you can see, they answered a lot of them right.

Adi ate about three bites before saying she was too sick to go on, and Pipes made it through five.

Porter loves ice cream- he's even trying to figure out how to use a spoon-thingy!

Then we popped popcorn (I made the girlies sing Popcorn Popping in order to get it... I'm just so mean!), and are currently watching Ice Age: The Meltdown. Technically, it is on, but no one is really watching...

Photo Shoot with The Boy

It was admiring Porter this afternoon while he was chowing down on a peanut butter sandwich (and throwing his apple slices down on the floor), and thought, "Why don't I get a few pics?". Well, here are the results... what do ya think of my little guy?

You gotta love the eyebrows on this one.

Nap Time

Sometimes my girls are angels. Real, true angels. Today, for example, they cleaned up their room super quick (made their beds and everyhing). After getting their BIG container full of Polly Pockets down for them, they played nicely with them until lunch- no fighting or anything. The girlies ate lunch so well and even went straight upstairs and got into their beds.

And then it started.

I'm trying to read Dealing With Dragons to the girls (one of my favs from my youth), "trying" being the emphasized word. About every-other paragraph Piper feels the need to interrupt me with a question. Now, I have enough patience to answer legitimate questions, but Piper has to ask the same question over and over and over. Today's question was: "What does conversation mean?". I explained the meaning and continued reading. About this time Adi starts jumping on my back.

I suffered through... I mean, I finished reading the chapter and kissed them with the promise that if they were good they would get ice cream with chocolate syrup and sprinkles after they sleep. "Okay Mommy, we'll go right to sleep."

Yeah, right.

I can't even remember how many times I had to go into the room and threaten them to be quiet and go to sleep. Adi finally falls asleep (after an hour), and Piper has pulled out all of her Little Pet Shop animals and has them lined up on her bed.

"What are you doing?" Totally rhetorical question
"I need my animals."
"Why?"
"Because they need me."
"Why?"
"Because I'm their mommy."
"Your mommy said you have to sleep."
"But my babies need me."
I then swoop to put them away.
"NOOOO! They are sleeping."
I am now counting silently in my head.
"Piper, it is naptime. While I am happy that you are being imaginitve and creative, it is time to SLEEP."
Yes, I sometimes talk to my children as though they are fully comprehending adults. It's ok though, because they pretend to understand me.
"OK, Mom."
She keeps playing.
"NOW."
"OK."
She keeps playing.
"Piper Pauline Merrill," I used the middle name,"LAY DOWN AND GO TO SLEEP."
"I'm not tired."

I don't know what is more comical, the things she syas or the fact that I keep trying to reason her to sleep. Keep dreaming, Courtney...

Not A Fun Night

Porter Grant seems to think that he doesn't need to sleep at night. He is an excellent naptaker- the boy still takes two naps a day! And please don't think that if I cut out a nap he'll do better at night- that only makes him ornery and he bites a lot.

But when nightime rolls around and 11 o'clock hits, his alarm clock seems to go off. He wakes up and cries. And cries. And cries. If I rock him, he'll lay still. But not sleep. Then its on and off the rest of the night and he is up for good every morning at exactly 5:42. Like clockwork. Yep, that early.

So, what to do? I am begining to turn into a zombie... drool and all. Any suggestions from my fellow bloggers?

kit by Weeds and Wildflowers (see my Stores link list)

Fire! Fire!

I blame the gas oven. Seriously. I was able to cook many, many meals in my previous electric oven without filling the entire house with smoke... well maybe I did a couple of times, but really, more than once a week is a record even for me! Twice already this week I have had, well lets just call them accidents, that involved food burning on the bottom of the oven.


Today, we bunkered-down upstairs and turned on the self-cleaning setting on the oven. Unfortunately, this created a lot of smoke. And I do mean a lot of smoke. Enough to set off the fire alarms. "Beep, Beep, Beep. Fire! Fire! Fire" Oh yeah, this alarm actually tells you that there is a fire. Can you imagine how my girlies reacted when a strange voice from up above told them that there is a fire? Oh yeah- the screaming (I'm pretty sure that my hearing is shot forever)! Porter, however, wasn't the least bit bothered. He just kept taking dishes from the cupboard and throwing them against the wood floor.


It took me quite a while to calm the frightened little girls down. We talked about fire safety, what to do if there really was a fire, and I even taught them about 911 (still not sure if that was a good idea or not). Adi is still a little scared, but Piper has decided that if there was ever a fire she is going to put a sticker on the window to show the fire fighters where she is and is going to sing really, REALLY LOUD to get their attention.


Gotta love them!

My Boy

My little guy. He has got to be the sweetest lil' monster out there! Sorry, but I had to let everyone know just how much joy this baby boy brings to my life. I'll try to control my gushing!

Anywho, this boy is starting to talk... but only when he feels like it. The little bum will not say these words when asked. In fact, he looks at you with a "Are you crazy? I can't say that!" kind of look. For instance, today he was kicking a ball and said, "ball"- I know, I know, not exactly a genius, but it's enough to make a momma proud. When I asked him to say it again, he gave me the afore-mentioned look and just walked away.

He has been heard saying:

Nae

Ball (as mentioned)

Dad

Nana

Want That

Baba (bottle)

No

Ruff (as in: What does a puppy say?)

Yes

Now I just need to train the little monkey to say them on command...

This page was inspired by this lady, whom I *blush* have a tendency of blog stocking!

My Little Whos

OP has been working 12 hour days since he got his fun new job. No fun for us at home (especially when you have a big-time Daddy's Girl). So, since we were all missing Daddy, he took us out to see Horton Hears a Who. Now, that has got to be the cutest movie that I have ever seen! There were so many good lessons in it- and it also has my favorite Dr. Seuss quote: "A person's a person, no matter how small." Five stars in my book!

I also got a little scrapping of Piper in:

Kindergarten Worries

Today was Kindergarten Introduction day at the school where Adi is going to start at in the fall. Adi-Baby and I went, but she wasn't too excited about the whole thing(remember the Princess Story?). I had high hopes that this little intro would kick off Adi's excitement about school.

Wrong-O.

I could see the anxiety building on her face from the second we sat down. She doesn't do well in large groups where she knows no one. When the principal announced it was time for the little ones to all go together to the kindergarten room and leave the party-pooper parents behind, it was just too much for my little girl. She broke down into tears, and soon she was sobbing.

I knew that this was a very important moment; do I let her stay with me in her comfort zone or do I push her into something she is afraid of, but will probably ultimately love? It broke my heart (I had to try not to cry), but I gently pushed her into the throng of excited children and took my seat. Let me tell you, that was one of the most difficult moments I've ever lived through. I had to continually fight the urge to go and get her from the class and just hold her in my arms. I kept wondering if I was scarring her forever. Was I making the wrong decision? Maybe she's not ready for this school-thing (maybe I'm not ready for this school-thing).

And she thought it was tough on her...

P.S. She had fun making a craft, talking to her teachers and just hanging out with others her age. She panicked on her way back in because she couldn't immediantly find me, but still, I think it went well.

P.P.S. My sister-in-law Hannah took Adi's picture in the scrapbook page. Isn't she amazing?

My heart broke when I saw this...

When I heard about this site, I had to check it out. Little baby Gavin is fighting for his life, and what a fighter he is! It reminded me how blessed we are with our good health and how much we have to be grateful for! Keep up the fight, Gavin!

It keeps snowing. It's cold. We can't go outside (or else I cry). So we have to make our own entertainment.

The girls decided to put on a Hannah Montana concert. Even Katelynn joined in on the hip-shakin' fun...

And what was Porter doing? Getting into trouble... same as usual.

A Happy Day.

Yesterday was a good day, for many, many reasons.

It was my big B-Day, and my girlies gave me the best gifts possible: homemade ones! Adi cleaned her whole room and Pipes cleaned up the family room (to the best of her 3 second-long focus). And I got a beautiful mani-pedi from them... I was sparkling!(Adi even took these pics!)


We also watched our new Prophet on General Conference, and the girls got to sustain their very first prophet. Funny story... OP and I have been trying to prepare the girls for Conference with help of The Friend. There is a full page picture of President Monson in there that we've been showing them and teling them about him. This picture is a bit outdated. Well, yesterday when President Monson first got up to the podium, Adi looked at him and said, "He looks older than his pictue." What an observant little fart!


I got Costco cake for my B-Day (oh, how I love Costco cake)!


OP got hired on as a foreman at a landscaping company (good pay, good boss)!


Orrin and I went on our first real date together in who knows how long. It was late, but still...


Here's a video I caught of Porter pacing the upstairs landing like a caged tiger. He loves climbing upstairs, but he just can't figure out how to go down them. Thanks to a spill he took down them the first day we were here (oops!), he won't actually try to go down them, but he really, really wants to play on them. Thus the pacing. Near the end of the video, you can hear Porter call out for his always-ready-to-help big sis Ad (he says, "Nae!", her nickname). So much fun!

I used too many exclamation points in this post, but it was just that good of a day!

Awww.... the puppies!

Piper has made two new best friends here in Utah. Lilo and Snickers make her little world go 'round. She loves holding & cuddling them, chasing them, letting them in & outside, and, most of all, packing little Lilo around like a baby doll.

Unfortunately, the dogs don't have the same kind of affection for her. Most often, they see little Miss Pipes coming toward them and they take off like a bullet. Poor Pipes, she just wants to love them...

Happy Birthday to Me!

My mom came home from Arizona today and brought me an early B-day gift from her and Whit..

Ain't she beautiful? I love this pic for two reasons; A) It is a gorgeous picture and B) It is where OP and I were sealed. Thanks Whit and Mom!

My Little Princess...

The girls and I started reading "big girl" books at night, instead of picture books (I'm trying to get them to use their own imaginations). We started reading A Little Princess the other night, about little Sara Crewe whose Papa leaves her at a girl's school in London while he goes back to India.

Now, Adi has been having mixed feelings lately about starting school in the fall. She wants to go and learn and make new friends, but she also doesn't want to be away from her family. So, when I finished the first chapter (when Papa leaves Sara), I looked down at Adi and there were huge tears falling out of her eyes.

"I DON'T WANT TO GO TO SCHOOL!" She yelled. It took OP and I thirty minutes to calm her down and persuade her that she will not be left at school forever.

I think I might shelve this book until after Adi starts school!

Why No One Will Sit By Porter When He Eats...

That is, no one but me (someone has to feed the beast). Orrin makes sure that he just-so-happens to be on the opposite side of the table. He throws food, splashes his sippy cup, "kills" his food before putting it in his mouth by smashing it (which sprays nasty little bits everywhere), and when he is done, he screams to be released from his seat.

He used to be such a sweet, quiet little boy...

**edit- he isn't actually stripped naked, but down to his diapers... what, did you think that we are that primitive?**