Snow Fun

So these are our latest pictures up in cold Salt Lake. I was getting worried that we weren't going to have a white Christmas for our first year up here, but low and behold, here it is. Now I have all the stresses that come with the snow. I'm one of those incredibly paranoid moms and wives that worries anytime she is not in complete control of the situation. Neil has a tendency to forget his phone, or leave it turned off, and if he doesn't get home within ten minutes from when he states; I'm already waiting by the phone to call the police department. Can you imagine my life with three teenaged girls?!? I'm stressing now just thinking about it. Anyway, the girls have had a lot of fun. Abby will even get herself dressed and go out by herself. The only warning I get is the sound of the door opening and closing. Next week we'll be down in sunny AZ out of the snow. So, for all of you Arizonians that read my blog, lets set up a lunch/ice cream date one night. I miss you all!

"Dead dove, do not eat!"

Let me start off by saying, this post may not be for everyone. Particularly not those with weak stomachs, or at least those that are pregnant. Neil showed this to me last night, and I almost lost it. Even thinking back on it, and the fact it is now in my garbage can still gets to me. Okay, so I don't go taking pictures of dead birds on the side of the road (or make Neil do it, so I don't have to go near it), but this one was a little too strategically placed, in my opinion. This was placed here right outside of our garage door, and seemed in perfect condition. So, my question to all of you....was this bird placed here by nature? By cat? or does someone have it in for me and wants to kick me out of Utah? I'm sure someone found out my dislike for David Archuletta and is trying to scare me off. I am thinking of my two neighbors with the perfectly decorated house both inside and out. I think they also let out their little rat of a dog to poop on my lawn. I haven't caught them yet, but I have my suspiscions. And, for those of you questioning, yes, they do listen to Archuletta full blast on their sterio, to share with all of us in this little pod. Just a a little too steriotypically gay in my prejudiced opinion. Anyway, after my little rants, I thought it would be best to put my pictures on the bottom of the page, so you could turn away if you wanted. Not sure what you expected, huh?



Yes, a little disclaimer, I know it isn't a dove.

blog slacker

I know I have been terrible about blogging lately. I felt like I didn't have anything to blog about, but as I'm looking at my pictures, I have plenty! Once again, my girls are nothing but funny. Isabel is more of a girly girl than Abby ever was, so her personality seems totally foreign to me.

This other picture is of the girls climbing the mattress. I remember doing this myself, and getting in trouble for it, too. I was surprised to come downstairs and find that Isabel up on top. I had to see Abby climb up there to see how Isabel had done it. She is no longer a helpless little baby. Maybe I could have figured that out when she figured out how to open the child proof bleach bottle.

I think I have my pictures backwords, so bare with me....

This was a precious picture of Abby. She has been very helpful lately. I love it. Now if only I didn't have to fight her to clean her room, and such. When we moved we got rid of our cheap Walmart plastic tree. Hooray!! I hated that thing. I felt that when I was putting ornaments on, I was just trying to cover up vast empty spots, that never seemed to get smaller. No matter what was put over them. This year, we got a real one. I love it so far. I know both of our parents had to complaint of cleaning up pine needles, but this hasn't been bad so far.

Then I have another of Isabel and dressing up. I told her to get her shoes on so she could go outside, and she thought this would suffice. I love the pose she added.

P.S. I could use some help from all you bloggers out there. I would love to have a cuter layout, but don't know how to put one on. Anyone have some easy instructions, or free websites to check out?

No pictures, just venting

What do you do when the tv goes out? Honestly, I have no idea! We are quickly finding that out, due to our lovely week. First, our lamp for our big screen blew, and we are still waiting for the replacement part. (Never buy a Mitsubishi!!) So last week, we all watched one tv. Not so fun when you are outnumbered by little kids wanting to watch Dora and Max and Ruby for the fifteenth time. Neil was gone all last week at work, so I had little kids tv non stop. Next came the speakers on our computer (normally that wouldn't be a big deal, but I'll get to that in a minute). Yesterday, Isabel decided to dump the remote for our working tv into the bathtub. Remote is shot, and no way of replacing it because Dishnetwork does not sell remotes other than from their website. They say they do, but they lie. We tried. We also cannot bring the working tv to the working remote because of HD programming, long story. So we wait for the lamp or a remote. So, when it comes to to the time when I need a break with the help of the mindless children's programs, I could go to the internet, but my speakers are broke!! So I just needed a minute to scream. AAAHHHHH!!!! I know in church meetings, they ask you not to watch tv or other wordly things, but let's be realistic. My children will not sit and read scriptures the entire day, I cannot read scriptures all day long. Sundays are really long. At least Monday we can go to the library, or Christmas shopping or something.

Picnics, pumpkins, and costumes

I don't have much to talk about, so I am just going to label the pics for you. I think my girls are hilarious, and these pictures will show you why. No denying what my children really are...

Can anyone guess our theme? Maybe we can get some better pics with them lighted up.

This is what happens when Isabel escapes from her room. She exhausted herself doing it, and finally fell asleep here, instead of her bed.

Abby at our picnic up Cottonwood Canyon. This is why we moved here! Beautiful weather and scenery!

Jumping from rocks

Making a teddy graham sandwich, with some already stuffed in the mouth.

Cheese!

Halloween Treats

I know I've been doing a lot of posts lately. Sorry. I guess it is better than only making one every few months. Today, I thought I would make "special" cupcakes with the girls, and they were so funny, I didn't want to forget the things they did. First comes the baking of the cupcakes. The girls then fight over who gets which beater to lick, and then try to convince me to give in to letting them have the bowl and spatula (they both ended up with brown goaties). I totally remember being envious of the spatula. My mom would bake something, and with so many kids, there were only two beaters to hand out, then came the spatula, then the bowl. I would always opt for the bowl, thinking that had the most, but I remember watching my mom scoop out what she could with the spatula.
Next came the decorating, but only so much went on the cakes. They tried to sneak every piece of sugar they possibly could. If I caught them, they thought I was the mean one. I also had to post a pic that showed the little finger prints on the rest of the cupcakes.
I guess I just had to show off the domestic diva in me. Which is really non-existent. Only very rarely will I bake, but that is about it.

Poor, poor Utah

I think Neil and I were not thinking too clearly when we thought that we could handle Utah. I hate being so judgemental or critical, but seriously?! Utah, is this really all you have to offer, that you design a corn maze off of this dude? I wonder what type of royalties they had to pay his dad. When I thought I could stomach the "CTR" graffitti (no joke, people put cups above a bridge that spelled CTR), this is too much for me. Please, people, get a life. For those of you that are Archuleta fans, sorry, just blame it on my pregnancy hormones. It is making me mean. ha!

I posted this, because Neil and I took the girls to a corn maze for my birthday. Not this one, but still a classic Utah event. We forgot to take our camera into the maze, and were too cold to go back and get it. Growing up in snow, it is still hard to get used to cold weather in October after living in Phoenix for 6 years. Oh well, it has been really nice on our power bill, we'll just see if that stays the same when we have to turn the heater on. The girls had fun in the maze, other than the fact, Abby hated her winter clothes. For those of you that know her, that shouldn't be surprising. She can't handle tags in her clothes, or having her clothes slightly wet with a little sand. She is very finicky. Isabel just wanted to be held the entire time, but kept yelling at the corn. "Hi, Corn!" Thanks for the birthday wishes, but especially for not making fun of my horrible picture. Thanks, Neil.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAGGIE

I thought I would hijack this blog for a moment and wish Maggie a happy 26th birthday and allow the rest of you to do the same. Maggie, I'm thankful for all you do as a selfless wife, mother and friend. For me, life would be pointless without you and the sweet daughters you've given me. So I'm glad to have this day every year to, once again, thank you and thank the Lord for sending you to us all. So heres to being one year older and a lot of years wiser than most of us. I love you!

I'll add a few more pictures when I get home.

Latest Sharp Vacation (Newport Beach, Disney)

This was Laguna Beach. There was tons of seaweed all over, so the beach stunk. It was a little cold and really foggy, but the girls wanted to stick their feet into the water. It didn't take too long before the girls fell into the water and got entirely wet. The rest of the trip, they were wearing the adult's jackets.









Isabel only wanted to see Minnie Mouse. It took us five times of actually seeing her, to actually get a picture. Every time that we got into line, she had to go back inside. We went through Mickey's house to see him, and after her hug and picture, Isabel said, "Bye, Mickey! I'll miss you, but I'm going to see Minnie!" Of course, that was one of the times that we saw her, but didn't get her picture.





I'll post more pictures later, but this is all I have on this computer. This is the last day, as we were attempting to leave the park. The girls were so good and happy the entire time, but at the end, they were just too tired to even keep their heads up.










This was from our ride home. Abby was still exhausted.

Thought you might like to know...

If you have had the opportunity to see Abby in the past few months, she has probably told you our little "secret". She has been taking pride in telling people about the "baby in mommy's tummy". So, if I haven't told you personally, please don't take offense, I've kind of let Abby take over in that department. This morning we were able to check out the gender... and surprise!! What do you think it was? Here's a hint, Gardner's get girls, except for a couple bonuses on the side (ie. Phil and Jackson). So yes, we are having another little girl. It was a little disappointment, but I think we'll get over it. Girls are sweet, but I'm finding that they scream.....a lot. I just hope this one will turn out more like Abby when it comes to bed time. I also wish I could add images where I want them. I always have trouble with that. I could post "proof" of the gender, and also a pic of her face, but those are a little creepy to me. Especially the face shots. They look so alien. I thought this was cute, though. You can see her

fingers! When I set up the appointment, I asked if I needed to have a full bladder, and the lady just laughed at me. In Surprise, I'm used to a whole painful ultrasound process, where I have to have a full bladder, and they get to push on it while checking out the baby. I'm glad they have

better equipment up here. We will now be accepting name suggestions if any of you have some to add, please share. I'm out of ideas. Also, if you don't mind, if you could send your condolences to Neil. We were all sort of hoping for a boy, but even though we love our girls, we may very possibly be done, so that would mean no boys for Neil. It is a sad day for him. Abby, too. We walked out of the office and we showed her the pictures, and told her she was going to have another sister. She pouted and said, "but I wanted a brother"! It will all be worth it when the baby comes.

Bed time nightmares

When I talk about bed time nightmares, I'm not talking about the girls. I have been having such a hard time putting them to bed ever since we got rid of Isabel's crib. From 8:00 on, it is such a struggle to get the two (Isabel mainly), to go to sleep, and stay in their beds. We still have a toddler bed in Isabel's room, but she chooses not to stay in there. And by not choosing to stay in there, I mean that she will throw an irate temper tantrum, and will not listen to any type of reason. Although, I do know safety procedure, and know better than to put my two year old on the top of a bunk bed, that is where she will stay with the least amount of trouble, not to mention that Abby likes the bottom better. Isabel is constantly getting out of bed, and trying to see how far she can get before we catch her. She has often made it to the basement, claiming that she wants to sleep there. Is it strange that I feel safer with her on the top bunk with the possibility of her falling, rather than in the basement all alone? I got these pictures a few days ago, when they had tired themselves out completely. I think poor Abby was being pushed off the bed. Now, aside from forcing my children (cross that out) forcing Isabel to stay in her room when we put them to bed, after that is my struggle to keep her in her room without waking Abby. After midnight sometime (but every night) Isabel comes in our room wanting to sleep with us. Okay, I am a light sleeper, and cannot stand to have people inching their way underneath me as I lay there. Isabel is no exception. I have ended up putting a couple blankets and pillows on the floor as her bed. I have been so tired of getting up with her, and of course, she will throw a fit if I try to put her back in her room, or Abby's. Thus my meaning of waking Abby up. Enough rambling, anyone have ideas for an easier way for bedtime and keeping children in their beds. Yes, I realise that this blog is quite redundant. Oh well, such is my life right now.

Abby's preschooling

This year I started my own little preschool with only a couple other little kids from the neighborhood. Unfortunatly, Abby is the oldest by a few months, and when you are pre-kindergarten, months make a difference. Abby seems to be bored when I try to help the other little kids. She finishes her worksheets quickly, and just wants to play the rest of the time. This is something that made me laugh. Abby's favorite things to do is to play games on the computer and write letters to her grandparents and friends. When she writes her letters, there really isn't any semblance or order to any of the letters. Except or her name and "mom" and "dad". Yesterday I set up nickjr.com for her to play some games, and this was my result. She opened up a Dora game and decided to copy what she saw. She doesn't really know what she is writing, but I have to say, I was impressed. She hasn't figured out how to put spaces in between, and to either finish a word on the same line, or at least put a dash in between. If you'll notice, she has "backpack", "boots", "benny", and even "senor tucan". I guess I'm bragging a bit, but this is nothing I have done. This is all Abby's doing, she loves to copy things. She makes me laugh.

Beijing Olympics

I have to say that I am tired of the Olympics. I probably should be glad I'm saying this on my computer, and not in person, because I might get punched. I just think NBC is doing an awful job at broadcasting. I usually love watching the Olympics, but come on! If I have to watch the same gymnastics routine I might throw up (okay that may be happening for other reasons). We get to watch close ups on these poor girls' faces as they wait for each new routine. I mean, these are all recordings (anyone else like the constant "live" on the top of the screen), couldn't they even show highlights of stupid sports? Come on, badmitton, fencing, archery. I know there are plenty. I love how they get the athletes on camera for over five minutes at a time, and they will give a smile and a wave, and then they have to pretend that the camera isn't there anymore. They are doing everything they can just to avoid another run in with the camera. So, since I am so bored, but am determined to watch anyway (I feel partially unpatriotic if I change the channel) these are the things I am noticing and getting a kick out of. Maybe some of you have seen some of the same things and can share. First, I loved the hug that Usain Bolt got, not only from his mother and other family members, or even those of his same country, but from the Chinese spectators. I loved how excited they got, and how Bolt couldn't even get away from it. You could see him prying their arms away, just so he could go pose for more pictures. I know these seem so insignificant, but they make me laugh. I also noticed the kiss the Alicia Sacramone got from one of the Romanian (maybe Russian) gymnasts. It started out as the usual- a kiss to both cheeks. That was when the American started to walk away, but the Romanian wasn't done. She held onto Alicia and tried to search for a cheek to kiss again. It was awkward, but so funny! So random. I love that I can rewind it and make sure Neil saw these awkward moments, too. I wish you were all here, so I could show you as well.

But now I am going to enjoy my long weekend. Neil's family is in town to send David off on his mission, and now that he is gone, Brenda took the girls away to Park City for the weekend. Happy Birthday, Mike. haha. My cell phone will be turned off, until probably around 10 or 11 tomorrow morning. I get to sleep in, guilt free for the first time in probably four years. Hooray!! I hope all you mothers are jealous. Yes, I have already realized how great my mother in law really is. I don't know who she loves more, my girls, or me.

Transitioning

Okay, so this picture has little to do with what my post is about, but I hate putting up posts without a picture. This is how Abby transitioned into a bed after crib. Of course, this was still about a year later, but this is still what she did. My problem now of course, is with my sweet and adorable Isabel. I am having a hard time seeing her as such right now. She has figured out that she no longer wants to sleep in a crib. She was climbing out non stop until I finally let her sleep in our foam princess couch, where she would actually sleep. Then the problem came to her getting to sleep, but not staying asleep. During the night, she would, and still does turn on all the lights, and then come and get me wanting to stay up. We then got some bunk beds for the girls. We were originally going to keep them separate, but decided in the end to keep them together. We still have Abby's toddler bed, so we put that in Isabel's room, and the bunks in Abby's. This is where I need help. No matter what, I cannont keep Isabel in any room to sleep. What do I do? I'm frustrated and tired. I can't get Isabel to sleep before 10:00 but it is normally 10:30. Keep in mind that I am normally pretty strict on my bed times. We are finally getting to where the sun will go down near 8:30 now, so much better than when we got here and it wasn't going down until 9:30 or later! So, any tricks that you moms have for getting your children to sleep? And staying to sleep. I know my blog has been so incredibly boring, and now all I have is a rant.

reality tv and shows not really for kids

So I have to say hooray for all of my silly reality tv. This is my first (from start to finish) season of So you think you can dance-and I love it! I could scream like Mary Murphy, but she is the reason tivo is so great. I don't have to hear her. Project Rungay is also back, and another one I am excited for. The other one we watch is Last Comic Standing. Did anyone watch a couple weeks ago with Marcus (the guy from West Jordan, UT) talking about Willy Wonka and how it wasn't necissarily a kids show? His parents would watch the first few minutes with him, and then thinking it was safe, they would leave him alone with creepy Gene Wilder and that was when the show went wrong and scary.

We experienced this with our kids this week. We netflixed The Spiderwick Chronicles for the girls. We actually watched the whole thing with them, but I will get back to that later. It started nice enough, but then goblins and trolls came out, and even the good guys were a bit scary. We would have turned it off, but the girls were so entranced by it, and also we had to let them know that things turned out all right in the end. Poor Isabel even screamed and jumped behind me at one point, but she was the one fighting for me to let her stay downstairs to watch it. The next day, Abby told me that she had a nightmare, about the scary spiders and that I made her stay downstairs in the dark to watch it by herself. Am I a mean mom or what? So here is your warning-don't make your kids watch it alone in the dark.

On a side note, they watched this one easier than they did Wall-E. We took Abby as a treat, because she is finally keeping her bed dry at night!! But the poor girls were bored to death by that movie. It definately wasn't made with kids in mind. It was more like Happy Feet with the "saving the penguins" at the end, but slightly less obnoxious. (Don't get me wrong, I love penguins, sort of like, I'm not racist, I love black people. (I hope you all understand my humor))Anyway, the only thing to keep the kids near us, was the popcorn and soda. I thought the movie was cute, but we really did go with the girl's in mind. That is all my ranting. Go watch some tv and tell me what you like.

Who's child is this anyway?!?!

Neil and I have always determined which child belonged to which parent. Abby has always had somewhat of Neil's personality and a lot of his features, Isabel has always been mine. Now, I don't know if I want to admit that I was that awful for my parents. She has definately hit two, and has hit it hard. She has not limited herself to this, but her favorite thing to do is to get into the pantry and dump out the flour. If she has time, she will try to mix the flour and the sugar. Yes, the pantry is being rearranged, with those things closer to the top. Her other favorite things, as grandmothers will attest, is to pull keys off the computer keyboard, and pour out whatever liquid or gel she can get her hands on. This includes, but again not limited to, shampoo, lotion, diaper cream, syrup, egg dyes, etc.

I'm sure the picture below is one that my mom is very familiar with. I'm finally realizing that I was that awful for my parents. I am also realizing that I am losing my patience with the number two. So, if anyone has any "2" stories they would like to share, please do. Maybe I can award the winner with a candy bar and a coke. Anyway, I need to get back and clean up another possible mess.

TGIF!!

It seems that ever since Neil finished school, we have been doing something every weekend. Back in Arizona, Saturday's were filled with laundry, homework, and house work. I almost feel bad that the girls haven't had a normal Saturday here, at home, but at least I think they are enjoying themselves. We spent the first few weekends at my mom's house. We also went to Lagoon with the fam for birthday's and such, this weekend we went camping for the 4th. We went to Bloomington Lake (near Bear Lake), and it was so beautiful! Thanks, Phil for telling us about it. We missed you, though. We had a place next to the river, which was really nice, except for the bugs. So, if anyone plans a trip, don't forget the bug spray. I think we went through a couple bottles, but luckily we escaped with little to no bites. These are just a couple of my favorites, so I'll try to post the others on facebook. We all had a great time the first day. After one night's sleep, Isabel had had enough. Thus saying, I had had enough. When Isabel gets grouchy she is awful!! But, as you'll see in the pictures, at least she is adorable. We went for a hike the next morning and Isabel was trying to fall asleep on our heads when we carried her on our shoulders. Abby thought she was hilarious when she took a bath in the little washbasin. We got those on Target clearance, and I don't think they were made to be washing tubs, but they worked fine for us. The girls were clean for a whole two minutes!! They got so filthy, but right before we went into the tent, we scrubbed them up in a small tub and they were clean for the night.

So I can look forward to Fridays again like I used to in elementary school when Friday's were full of Urkel, Full House, and Mr. Cooper. I'm glad times have evolved!

Bye bye pacifier, sort of and hopefully.

So here is my cute family. I think everyone is familiar with my girls, but in this picture I also have my sister's kids (minus one). By the way, I miss you already, and am so glad that you came. Abby and Isabel have been asking non stop for their "friends".

Today is the day that we are getting rid of the pacifier for good! We kind of got rid of it back in AZ, but during the move we kind of went back to it. So, today, we finally cut off the top and she won't get it for bed time or even naps. Okay, stressful for me. I know they are bad for the teeth, and it isn't as if I want her to have it. I just don't have the heart to take it away. I think I am being a tough mom when I tell her that she can only have it when she goes to bed, but I am also a wimp and can't handle the crying and screaming, and whining, and hitting and grouchiness. I also try to tell myself that all or most children go through this, but it isn't helping. I hate the pacifier!! I remember when it was Abby that I told myself that Isabel would be off of hers by 6 months old. Okay, obviously that didn't work. Isabel is even more attatched than Abby ever was. She would prefer the pacifier to me any day. Any good mothering ideas are welcome, just not the ones that tell me that I am a bad mom because she isn't already off of it. Yes, I know she is 26+ months old!! I'm trying!! My goal for the end of the day, is not to stop at Walmart and get a new one.

Happy Birthday, Tia

Here's some random pics of my 4th favorite sister. Haha. That was a joke. We miss you Tia, and wish you were closer! We were happy to spend at least a day with you for Leigh's graduation. We're all so glad you are happy in California. Dan is one lucky guy. Make sure he knows that!! I know all of your nieces and nephew love you to death. When we called, she wanted to say Happy Birthday, but Sonya's name just got in the way. We love you. Happy Birthday!! Have a good one!

more posts

I had actually forgotten about this picture, and how much I wanted to show them off. This is the type of help I get from my children. So I wanted to make a really nice tiered cake for Neil's graduation. Granted it is not the best so what they did, kind of helped me in a way. At least I could blame the fact of it not being the best cake on them, and not necessarily on the fact that I didn't want to spend so much time on it. Oops, secrets out. I'm kind of a lazy baker. I love to bake, but am not willing to spend a whole lot of time on it. This is partially why we do muddy buddies so often. Anyway, I thought the cake was funny because of the face that was put here. These are Isabel's fingerprints, and as soon as she did it, she told me that it was a face. Luckily I had already planned to put stars on in ASU's colors, I guess this helped me to "strategically" place them. (yes, I know I am spelling terribly, but like the lazy baker, I am also a lazy blogger)

Hooray!!

Okay, so the moment you've all been waiting for.....I'm back online. I know you all couldn't wait to see what odd ramblings I have to add, which is really not much. I've gotten out of the habit of blogging, so I really have nothing to say, but I have a few pictures I wanted to post. Here are some fairly old pictures of the girls and their Sharp cousins. This was while we were staying over with Neil's parents. By the way, we miss all of you!! The other two are pretty self explanatory. Neil's graduation. Congrats, babe! We are really proud of you!