IT HAS BEEN HOW LONG.....or what we have been doing since July.

Look at my cute Family!!

You know I am not a very good mommy blogger. I have to say I am the same way about writing in a journal. Really consistent for a while then....not so consistent. If you asked me as a teen what my biggest weakness is I would have said procrastination. Now if you asked me I think I would answer consistency. So here is a quick catch up of some of the stuff we have been up to for the last 4 months.

This little Bear had her 3rd birthday. I can not believe it. She is growing up so fast.

These are the cupcakes she requested. Chocolate with pink frosting.
We did get a little time in with nature. This was a beautiful hike around a lake. I can not remember where it was, and my hubby is unavailable to ask. I think it was by Snowbird. It was short and easy and pretty. It was also a rainy day. Thankfully the downpour let up and we got to go on the hike.

Here we all are. The intrepid explorers. Baby Bear is looking at the dead fish we found in the water. It was pretty much the highlight of the day for her. Funny girl!

Me and the Hubby. I am trying to get more pictures of us together. There are a lot of pictures of the girls, lots of him, a few of me but not many of us as a couple. I have taken it upon myself to fix that.

My Little Banana started Kindergarten which she loves. This is a pic of her first day finery.


Speaking of my Banana....this picture is SO her.

Here we are feeding ducks at First Dam. This baby with my hubby is my cute 1 year old niece. Though, because she belongs to the twin brother I think she looks like my girls. I just might have to keep her.....

Here we are at the Aggies football game. They even WON the game we went to!!

Awww hugging Big Blue

We also got to spend a weekend at Bear Lake. It was the perfect early fall day. It was warm enough to play in the water but cool enough that we did not bake.

I love my girls!!

Here my Bear shows off her budding fashion sense. She chose the whole look all by herself.
She was very proud of it as you can tell by the look on her face!

On to Halloween.......

Meet Witchy and Wicked our pumpkins. Yes my girls name their pumpkins and no it was not my idea. They come up with these things all on their own.

Here is my Spider Princess- Her costume gave me so much trouble.... I have got to learn to sew a strait line one of these days....... But I really like how it turned out. Trial and Error was my motto on this one but I think we got it right!

My little pumpkin. I love how her costume turned out!!

Had to add the one with my other cute niece (that I need to keep). She smiles and looks at the camera almost without fail....*sigh* one day perhaps my girls will learn that. Kidding!! I love the crazy looks I get on my girlies faces.

We tried out a recipe from the cookie cook book I got for my birthday. Treasure Chest Brownies. We had a lot of fun but I have got to find my cake decorating set (that is somewhere in the garage)....maybe I should just buy a new one or ask for one for Christmas.... Trying to do the decorative work with a baggie that was double pleated did not work so well. Next time I will make sure I buy the non pleated.....They sure were yummy. How can you go wrong with brownies, fudge covered graham crackers, m&m's, and chocolate frosting.

Last of all Bear FINALLY got to start a gymnastics class. She is so excited to get to go in the big room like sissy!

So that is a brief history of the last 4 month. Have a great rest of the Month. Let's see how long it takes until I update again..........

"How I Spent My Summer Vacation"

We went on vacation a couple of weeks ago to Heber here in Utah. While I packed the girls made this delicious cake. I thought it was so cute I had to take a picture. Anyways here are a few shots of how we spent our summer vacation.

Here is a shot of the girls and their cute cousin. We are at a church in Midway waiting for fireworks.
This is a trick that my girls have done since they could stand. Cam loves to let them stand on his hands and they love it too.

Cam and another cute niece. I caught then both playing with their phones.... I call this Cams smoldering look:)
I was a great fireworks show- especially when you consider how small the town was.
We took time while there to take family pictures. I did get a shot of them BOTH smiling and looking at the camera- you can tell their sisters cuz they both have the same fakeish smile...someday we will get a good posed picture!
Here we all are and looking at the camera too!! Here is a question. How do you convince your husband that when you are trying to take family pictures that he should take the hat off??? I haven't figured it out yet.
We also spent a day at Deer Creek playing and trying to use the canoe...but this was the only ride that happened because the water got really choppy so .....
The girls made use of it on the beach. They took a trip to Squid Island and were attacked by giant squids and found treasure. So I think it was worth hauling the canoe - it got a lot of good use!
They also delighted in attacking their only boy cousin. Thank goodness he was such a good sport! Don't worry I got in the water too. I wasn't a party pooper but it is my blog so I can choose to omit photos of me in a swimsuit.
We were in Heber so we had to go to the Dairy Keen. THIS is what it is like when we go to fast food places with our kids. I had an awesome turkey sandwich and you have to love their shakes and fries.
Plus the big train outside is lots of fun.
After Heber we spent a few days in WJ and went on some local outings. We finally made it to the Living Planet Aquarium. We had a lot of fun their. Here are a few highlights.

This is the penguin tank. We got to watch them get fed then jump into the water and swim.
I especially love the coral reef tank. It is so fascinating.
The girls love the jelly fish!
It was worth the trip for sure. Here I am with my girls on a giant frog.

We fit in a couple of other fun things as well. I saw Eclipse, we went to the Cheesecake Factory. We also went to Cams 10 year reunion. It was a nice vacation and I want to go back.....

I LOVE IT

Baby Banana
Baby Bear

So I have been a mom for almost 51/2 years now. Growing up I was always one of those people that mothered everyone. It was just a natural thing for me to be with kids and read stories and play. I always thought that I would be a good mother. I was told by multiple people what a good mom I was going to be. I had worked in daycare for years with other peoples children before I became a mom. I had studied Child Development and Child Psychology. But to be perfectly honest I am not sure that any of that really prepared me to be a parent. I don't know if it just because I get so worn out working with kids all the time but there is hardly a day that goes by that I don't at some time during the day feel like a terrible mother. But the more I work with families and get to talk with other mothers- the more I know that is a universal feeling. We are so hard on ourselves. I am setting a resolution right now to take the time to find more joy in motherhood. I LOVE being a mom but I think we all get so caught up in the good things in life that we forget to revel in the best things. Like when your daughter sings you a song that she made up herself all about how much she loves you and wants you to have a happy mothers day. Or the 2o mothers days cards that your kids made you by taping and gluing together notebook paper and other various objects found around the house. I will take more joy in when my crying daughter just wants me to hold her to make it better. I have 2 amazing girls. They couldn't be more different from each other. They challenge me in a new way every single day. I Love them more than anything. I have so many hopes and fears for them. So to my Babies thanks for taking this crazy lady that always loved kids and thought she knew everything and teaching her that no matter how much you think you know there is always more. Thanks for making me a mom and blessing my life every single day. I Love You!
Mom

Junior Olympics

Bananas gymnastics place held their annual Jr. Olympics this morning. She has been so excited about her routines. Here are a few pictures. She did really well but I think it made her nervous to have so many people there. I of course was more worried about having the right hair than anything else.... that is my job though right. She rocks the routine I rock the hair!
All the kids got t-shirts and medal for the event. She also got ribbons 2 blue for vault and bars and one red and white for beam and floor. It was a lot of fun! We are proud of our little Banana Good work girlie!

Bear Lake Picnic

After church today we decided to go on a car ride to Bear Lake- we took along a picnic so we could eat dinner while we were there. The real reason we needed a car ride was so Cam could study for his anatomy test tomorrow. He likes to have me quiz him and read him his notes while he drives. That way he is doing something and he also can't get away from it. I decided it works much better when we are freeway driving than canyon driving- all those twist and turns and elevation changes made it really hard for me to concentrate on his notes today.....

We had our picnic at the Garden City Playground. They really have the most unusual playground equipment there. It also looks a little dangerous but the girls really had a lot of fun. I think that the playgrounds they build now days are a little too safe sometimes but......
Here are all my children on the hangey-twirly-nater-thingy - yes it was Cams favorite too.

We called this the spiders web. Both of my girls climbed up to the top! When Bear got up there she goes "I the King"

Here we are skipping rocks at the lake.


We really love Bear Lake. It is so beautiful. I hope someday we will be able to afford a Cabin or something up there. Today was a lot of fun. It was relaxed and we felt adventurous. We need to do more outing like this. The best part was when we ran out of rocks and started throwing mud balls into the lake. You will never guess which one of my "kids" came up with that idea.....
Look two posts in one day- Yeah Me!