Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Cousin Sleepover!!


Last weekend we got to have my sister Lisa's kids over for the weekend, and we had so much fun! Ashley is 5 weeks older than Cecily, and Ruby is 5 months younger than Ainsley. So Ashley and Cecily pretty much kept each other entertained all weekend, and surprisingly, Ruby and Ainsley did really great together! We all had a fun time from the slip & slide to the rainy excursion to the park, to the pizza at Costco!

Cecily and Ashley both had Pillow Pets and matching jammies
(do you love how they dressed up their Pillow Pets?)

Ready for bed
We were all up late, and everyone was exhausted!
BATHTIME!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

What?

Hey, don't think that just because I haven't posted in a while I have left all of my new organization behind. Nope. My house is still clean-ish. Time just flies by so fast! My goal was to blog on Sundays, but my Sundays have been too over-scheduled (okay, so I'm just enjoying my family too much), so blogging has been on the back burner. But here are some fun pictures from our visit to Red Butte Gardens on Saturday, as well as some pictures Derrick took of the girls before church on Sunday. The girls are such darling, sweet girls (well, Ainsley can be a little monster, but we wouldn't have it any other way). They love each other incredibly, and I enjoy them so much. Cecily is getting ready to start Kindergarten in the fall, and Ainsley is becoming friends with the toilet. I'm thinking I'm into the last box of diapers I'll be buying for this kid!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Because I can't forget this cuteness!

My sister just posted a bunch of funny/cute stories about her little girl, so I got to thinking that I had better get some of my recent funny/cute experiences with my little girls written down before I forget.

Ainsley has had a few nights recently where she doesn't want to go to sleep. She'll start crying in her bed after she's been in there a while, and when I go in to check on her, she's just so stinking cute, that I bring her downstairs to cuddle with us on the couch. Then she does the cutest thing (and she'll do it to whoever is holding her). She'll rub my cheeks with her hand, then she'll rub her cheek against my cheek, then she'll kiss me on the cheek, give me some butterfly kisses, then rub her cheek against my cheek again.....and on and on and on. Since she is normally a very independent, opinionated kid, this cuddly sweetness is a real rarity. I love it!

A couple of months after turning 4, Cecily TAUGHT HERSELF how to tie her shoes. She has one pair of shoes that lace up, and I had shown her one time a few weeks before. I told her to put her shoes on, and when I went to tie them, she was already done with one, and working on the other! The kid's a genius.

Ainsley is such a daddy's girl of late. She is constantly asking where Daddy is, and when I say he's at work, she'll reply, "ohhh," in a sad, yet impatiently bugged, voice. She often cries when he walks out the door, even if he isn't leaving the house.

Cecily takes a couple of dance classes. But when you turn the music on, the kid goes nuts and makes up these dances with moves I've never seen at dance class. I have no idea where she gets it! But boy does she feel that music!

Ainsley has started a new tradition. When we have family prayer, it's usually in the morning right before Derrick leaves to go to work. Then he will give us all kisses before he walks out the door. So now, whenever we have family prayer, as soon as the "Amen's" are said, she yells out, "KISSES!!!!" And we all get kisses!

Cecily is learning how to read. She loves to bring her books home and read them to me and anyone who will listen to her. She even called Grandma Thomas on the phone to read a book to her.

When Ainsley is bothered by something, she'll go off a ways, plop on the floor, fold her arms, and pucker her lips in a very stuck-up, "I-don't-like-that-so-I'll-have-nothing-to-do-with-it" look. Half the time, I have no clue what I've done wrong.

The other day, Cecily wanted to ride bikes with the neighbor kids across the street (their youngest is 8). So the brave girl went to their door and asked them if they would ride bikes with her. When they told her they were doing their homework, she thought quick, and said, "Maybe when you get done with your homework you can come and ride with me." And guess what? They did! She was so proud! Okay, scratch that. I WAS SO PROUD! I hadn't been home, so I got to hear the story after I returned and the girls were in bed. I don't think I would have been so brave as a child! She thinks those kids are so cool. And they are. We have such awesome neighbors!

I love when Ainsley is watching a tv show and I find her laying on her tummy with her hands under her chin. She looks like such a big girl in a tiny little body. People are often surprised that she talks as well as she does, because she still looks like such a little baby.

Cecily is really into praying that we can be healthy. The majority of all of her prayers are about us eating healthy, taking care of our bodies, etc. It's hilarious. I love listening to her pray that Ainsley will be nice and not hit or take her toys.

She's talking a lot more now, but a few months before she turned two, Ainsley was really into chewing me out in her own language, then immediately giving me a kiss to make up for it. Unfortunately, she still likes to chew me out, but in English, and I usually don't get the kiss afterwards! (But it does make her kisses all the sweeter when I do get them!)

The other day, Cecily says, "Um, Mom, we need to take Ains to No Hitting School so she can learn to be nice and not hit." Actually, Cecily is really into different schools. She just asked last night if she could go to Training Wheel School so she could learn how to ride a bike with out training wheels.

Ainsley's favorite phrase: "I want cheese." Her favorite word: "NO!" And she says it just like that. Real quick, stern and to the point. She enjoys saying it to all children at the store, at church, in the car next to us... She also likes to instruct them, "Do NOT HIT!" Doesn't matter that she feels obliged to hit anyone she wants, whenever she wants. She will not tolerate other children hitting. Even if they weren't planning on it, she feels it is her duty to tell them not to hit. I love this kid!

One of Cecily's best friends is a little boy named Trey. One night last year, when they first started playing together, Trey's dad had brought Trey to our house (Trey's parents are friends of ours). Cecily was already in bed, but I saw her peeking out her window, so I told her to come down and jump on the trampoline with Trey. She was so excited! When I asked her why she was so excited, she said it was because "that boy has hair like Annie!" As in little orphan Annie. I had introduced Cecily to that movie recently, and Trey has naturally curly, curly hair. And she just thought that was the coolest thing ever!

Ainsley is the MESSIEST EATER EVER! The girl makes a mess of EVERYTHING she eats! Yesterday I caught her finger-painting baked beans on her stomach. Oh, and if she doesn't want the food, she will throw it on the floor. And if you put a bib on her, she will reach her messy hands under the bib and rub. So yeah, bibs are kind of pointless.

Ainsley is into getting "pretty cute." When I do her hair, she says its "pretty cute." When she wants to put on a dress-up, she says she wants to get "pretty cute." And she loves to dance. Probably because she looks "pretty cute" when she does it.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Breakfast for Dinner

Life has been so crazy busy lately, and it's been hard to keep up with the vow I made to post on my blog every week. But it is still my goal to post every week, so hopefully I will get better about fitting it into my schedule.

I have been much better about posting on my recipe blog than I have on
this blog, and these photos are from the Banana Sour Cream
Pancakes recipe I made for dinner tonight, which I am about to post on my recipe blog. Monday nights are breakfast-for-dinner night. As a part of the "organizing my life" kick I've been on, I have been planning weekly menus (which will eventually turn into monthly menus) so I can know ahead of time what I will be preparing. I don't know about you, but I hate coming up with an idea of what to cook when I need to have dinner on the table in an hour. So being prepared is definitely helping me in that department, and I'm only having to go to the grocery store once a week (yay!).

Anyway, just wanted to let you know that I haven't backed off of my goal to post every week (if anyone actually cares!). Hopefully I will come up with something exciting to post soon. We've been doing a ton of fun stuff, but Derrick has my camera card at work, and I hate posting without pictures, so I've been holding off until he remembers to bring it home!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE AINSLEY!

Our little baby Ainsley is TWO!!

And a spunky little two-year-old she is!

We are constantly being entertained by our "little monster," and are so glad she is a member of our family.


I had no idea how different little girls could be, but I think my two are night and day! And they love each other so much! It is so much fun to see them interact together. Ainsley is little miss attitude a lot of the time and has perfected the scowl. But she also has a contagious laugh, and you can't help but smile when she gives you one of her cheesy grins.

She loves to be around other little kids, and lives for going to nursery at church. She is always trying to get away from us in Sacrament Meeting, and a few weeks ago was able to make it almost all the way to the pulpit! I think she was just trying to embarrass me, as I was chucking down the aisle trying to catch up to her. She definitely knows what she wants!

We look forward to her waking every morning, as she is always full of joy.

She loves to splash water EVERYWHERE when she takes baths, and she needs to take baths often, as she makes artwork with her food every time she eats.

She LOVES the moon, and looks for it whenever she is outside.

There is so much more to our Ainsley Painsley, but what it comes down to, is we are absolutely crazy about this little girl. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!





Tuesday, February 23, 2010

An Organized Life....is a GREAT life!


Um, yeah. I KNOW it's been months.


So, a couple of years ago (just going into 2008), I recall making the New Years Resolution to become more disciplined. Two years later, I am finally making some headway... I think...

It all started with some organization classes my Relief Society started holding on Wednesday nights. I thought it sounded like something I'd be interested in, so I decided to attend the 8-week program. I'm sure some of the ladies in my ward will laugh when I say this, but I have to admit that these classes have totally transformed my life! Why?

MY HOUSE IS CLEAN!

(Please don't faint, Mom)


So why is having a clean house so transforming? Well, for me, everything all starts with my house. I cannot function at my best if my house is messy. Not that my house was always a disaster, but I just never felt like my housekeeping jobs were ever FINISHED, therefore I never wanted to start on them. But these days, usually by around 9am (remember I'm an early-riser), I can check housekeeping off my list and not worry about it for the rest of the day! !

Anyway, there's a lot more detail to it all, and it is applying to more areas of my life than just housekeeping. But my point is, I am getting my house in order, and it feels great! I've got more time on my hands, and I feel a semblance of control in my life. So I just HAD to let everyone know how excited I am about it!

Anyway, back to the fact that I haven't posted on my blog for months... It's okay. I'm starting fresh (again). My plan is to post something weekly from now on, and I am really going to put an honest effort into it. I even have it planned into my schedule... (don't laugh. and no taking bets on how long this "new me" is going to last).