More artistry

This time we have Max.

He is a bit less....ambitious.




He gave himself a scar...

to be like Harry Potter.

Isabella the Artiste!!!

Several of you lately, have posted about your own little artists.

I have laughed.

I have felt sorry for you.

Then, I have laughed some more.

I laugh because I too.....understand and am being punished for laughing.


I went in one night to find Isabella in my bed, fast asleep, looking like this.

The marker was still soaking into the sheets.
Luckily, it was a Crayola washable marker.

When she got up in the morning and I was helping her get dressed,
I saw this......

And this.




Below you will greet the same face I greeted when I asked her about it.

I discussed why we do not color on anything except the papers mommy gives you.
I discussed the reasons we do not draw on our bodies.
I discussed that she is not to get into the markers again without asking.

I got this...

Not too terribly sad about it.

Her artistry has compounded as of late.

These last few days have found her coloring on my rocking chair, the hubster's book, various pieces of somewhat important papers, and the inside of my van.

Not to worry. She is at this moment sound asleep in her bed.

Without a marker.

Pioneer Day Parade

That's right folks -- I'm that far behind.

Here it is anyway -- for my future benefit.

We had a little parade through our neighborhood and then met as a ward for a pancake breakfast at the nearby park.

I didn't get any pictures of that because I was too busy trying to feed children and...quite frankly, myself. But, I did manage to snap a few of our kids on their make-shift outfits.

I hadn't particularly been planning on dressing up so we had to make do with what we had.
The boys kind of chose their outfits, but Isabella really wanted a skirt.

She doesn't own any long pioneer-y skirts. So,.....
I quickly took the curtains off of my back door and threaded some grosgrain ribbon through them to tie them on her and then safety pinned the panels together and taped the hem.

Not my finest work.
But funny. Very funny.
One for our family memory book.

Oooh. Plus, it is a little Sound of Music -- the dress out of curtains.

Back to School Anders

Back to School 2009 Anders

He's now in third grade! Yikes!
Where has the time gone?!?!

{I can actually remember third grade -- I remember I learned cursive and how to spell tuberculosis. Not sure if I spelled it in cursive though. That's about all I remember. Weird.}

Anyway....back to Anders.
He was really excited to start school because he has two great teachers this year.
Yep! Two!

They split the day.
One of his teachers LOVES science and he cannot wait to get to school and do science experiments and start talking science.

The other teacher loves math and reading.
Who could ask for more?!

Needless to say, he is very excited to be in third grade.

He is such a good kid.

He doesn't love having his picture taken though.
Notice how many fewer pictures I have of him than of his little sister.
hmmmm...

He's proud and happy to be a third grader.

He's losing his smile and getting a little bit annoyed by his mother.
I'm pretty sure he said something like...
"Okay. Enough pictures. Can we just go to school now?"

Ahhh....brotherly love.
I am one lucky lady.

It is going to be a great year!

Back to School Max

Back to School 2009 Max

So, he started the big KINDERGARTEN this year.

Can I get a Woot! Woot!

Broken arm and all.
If you don't remember how he broke his arm, you can read about it here.

He loves to laugh.

I can tell he's excited, but also maybe a little bit nervous.

He is a good kid. I'm glad it's just half day.

He's definitely ready. He's ready to join the school crowd.
He's ready to hang with his bro.

From the looks of it, he's ready for some mischief. :)
This looks like a little bit of trouble just waiting to happen.

Max started 2 weeks later than Anders, because they use the first few weeks for kindergarten assessment. This was their first day of going to school together.
Live it up boys! It's going to be a long haul together!

Ahhhh....the backpack shot.
Okay. It's not that great. But, at least they will be able to look back on this and say...
"I remember that red backpack...."
I know. They'll never say that.

Back to School Isabella

I know. I'm lame. I'm just now posting about Back to School, but .....

that's the best I've got.

So, here it is...

BACK TO SCHOOL 2009 Isabella

She started dance back up on the same day as preschool.

Dance was first in the day.

What a little character. She just makes me laugh.

This is her giving her...."I will now smile for the photograph" smile.

...complete with chocolate milk that she spilled on her skirt right before we left. Of course.

That's right folks. I didn't change it. I sent her to her first day of school with a dirty skirt.
I took her back-to-school pictures with a dirty skirt.
I will not be winning any mom awards that's for sure.

Still saying "Cheese."

Finally loosening up -- I think I said "booger" or some other word that is equally funny to children.

Here she's explaining to me why she can't smile anymore because the sun is getting in her eyes.
{notice the shoes on the wrong feet -- her trademark}

Now she's letting me know she just can't do it.

Now she's moved on to more important activities altogether.

I think I may have said "booger" again -- only this time for good reason. ;)

The day has finally come,...the hour is finally upon us,...she is finally there --
long awaited preschool has begun.
She could not be more pleased!

More catching up -- Fall Festival

Every year for the big school fundraiser they do a Fall Festival. One of the games at the Festival is a Pop Parade (instead of a cake walk.) To make things fun, they have any of the students that want to participate, decorate some new cans/bottles of soda and turn it into a contest. The students bring in their creations in the morning and a few teachers and school staff members roam around and judge them. Then, all of the pop creations are the prizes at the pop parade later that day.

This is one of our very favorite things! We love it! We have so much fun coming up with ideas. This year's theme was "60 years of Star" and was a Hollywood theme. So my boys chose two movie characters.


Max chose Obi Wan (did I spell that right?)

Sorry for the blurry pictures -- I'm not sure what was going on with my camera.

Anders chose Indiana Jones

We used cheap Howie's Root Beer

They had a great time taking these to school and turning them in.
Max even took 3rd place in his grade.

{But I don't feel sorry for Anders b/c he has placed almost every other year.}

Liam's First Spaghetti

This happened back in August....I'm doing a little catching up.

It's a rite of passage...of sorts.

In our family, for some reason, the first spaghetti always proves to be triumphant.

Success yet again!

Halloween!!!

Prepare yourself for several photos....

We love Halloween and had a great time this year!

Anders chose to be a wizard.

Isn't this just the sweetest little wizard face you've ever seen???

Isabella wanted to be a witch -- a PINK witch to be exact.

She also insisted that she have an apron.
But, the apron had to have a pocket.

She was one sweet witch -- she was sure to tell people that she was a good witch.

Max wanted to be Luigi (from Mario Brothers for those of you not in the gaming world.)

My favorite part was his mustache, but he was too embarrassed to wear it out in front of people.
He didn't want anyone to laugh at him.
I told him it's good to be funny and have people laugh at you.
I also told him people laugh at mommy all the time.
I think that ruined it. It didn't help in the slightest.

I was a garden gnome and Liam was my toadstool.

Here they are surveying their stash.

The best part of Halloween is when they willingly share their candy.

Wo. Easy there tiger. We'll give you more candy in a second. Take it slow.

My sister Mallorie came to join the festivities and enjoyed the fruits of their labors.

"Oh Mr. Darcy, yes. Yes, I will marry you."
OR
"Why, this chocolate has my heart all a-flutter!"

Mercy Mallorie. Save some for the kids! :)

{Don't be mad at me for posting these pictures Mal. I couldn't help it!!!
Is now a bad time to let people know you're single??!!}

We had a great Halloween -- sugar and all!