Can't help lovin those men of mine

Seriously, who can resist these two!

Thanksgiving Highlights...

We take turns every other year spending time w/either the Frame or the Rogerson family. Usually on the Rogerson year (if we stay in Utah) its a much smaller get together, but this year we had the luxury of having a good majority of Gi's family travel here for the holiday. Two of his 3 younger brothers, and his parents, plus an uncle, Grandma, and a few locals... we had a really great time and so appreciate Mark and Cindy for hosting the event. The cooking was non-stop and after a full day of eating, a couple of gingerbread trains assembled, we even got to do a little Black Friday shopping and see a movie. All-in-all you'd call it a success.

More than anything we just felt spoiled to have the family travel so far to be with us, and while extra visitors always brings a bit of chaos to a routine, it sure brings a lot of smiles and fun to see the kids enjoy their cousins and to have a chance to catch up w/our parents and siblings. I'm so glad to have married into a family that will go to such great lengths to be together, so much like my own, and so glad that we really do enjoy being together so much. We missed having our Oregon brother and family here, but hopefully we'll get to meet that new niece before long too. Happy Thanksgiving!

Leaves, leaves, leaves!

I really can't help but love the leaves... Fall has always been my favorite time of year and since Utah has extended its "Indian Summer" into an "Indian Fall" we'll take full advantage of an afternoon at the park in the leaves before its all ruined watching the BYU/Utah game.

Needless to say the kids and parents had a beautiful sunny afternoon to enjoy the leaves!

The hardest day of the year....Family Pictures

Well I guess you can't call it the "Hardest" day, I've had worse, but the anxiety over what everyone should wear, how they should sit, where we will go, who will take them.... the list goes on and on and then often they don't quite turn out... so here we go for round 1 this year and a few might work:

The everyday stuff...

In the middle of tearing out a bathtub and surround this week, building in closet drawers and shelving, and the dreaded rotation of summer clothes out-fall clothes in... it occurred to me that my time as a mom is often spread a bit too thin. That I make time for the big stuff, the holidays, the birthdays, the events... but sometimes I miss the little stuff. Gi's been traveling quite a bit the past few weeks and so being 7 1/2 mos pregnant I'm spread even a bit thinner (well maybe wider too), but in the midst of it all the kids and their quirks (though they drive me CRAZY) are also the reason I get through it all. And for that I am eternally greatful for them.... so grateful that this blog is about them, their everyday stuff, and their best lines, the ones that for this week have me giggling everytime I hear them.

Chance: He finishes coloring a picture the other day (and in the lines I might add) and from across the room I hear him declare out loud to himself : "I'm a genius!" no idea where he learned the word, no idea how he figured out how to use it correctly, but its been said a few times since and I get a good chuckle out if it everytime he says it. Or the look on his face when I ask if he'll be my boyfriend while Daddy's out of town. Cheese-ball grin from ear to ear, he blushes something fierce and says, sure, I'll be your boyfriend :)

Reagan: Finally at age two she decided she'd been spoken for, on top of, interrupted for the last time and now I can't get this sweet thing to stop talking.The top line of this week comes from the clip after "Car's" when they tell Mater to watch out for the Screaming Banchee... and he replies "Screamin What!" There's not much justice I can give her facial expressions or her voice when she repeats this line "Screamin' Whaaat!" but its enough to get a good laugh out of everyone who's seen her do it. My close second favorite line is when she with lots of enthusiasm declares "HOKY Cow"... unaware that K should be an L, its the cutest thing you've ever heard.

Bailey: Just too smart for her own good, little miss school-going Kindergartner declares her profound knowledge to me regularly on subjects far and wide. She's taking dance and has all the lastest moves worked out for her morning "bandstand" to the Lion King soundtrack. We've only listened to that tape (yes a tape.. that they can't scratch) about a million times. But her best shows as of late are her attempts, and a few sucesses and getting Reagan out of the crib in the morning, changing her diaper and dressing her. It usually is in a matching outfit, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but more than any of it, its the effort to be so darn big, and such a great helper that gets me. She's also pulled off breakfast for the three kids all by herself too. Toast, pop-tarts and milk all around... but I won't complain, again its her efforts that I'll never fault. And on days when I've been up too many times and 7am just comes much too fast and furious, I'll take her efforts and use them to my advantage for another 15 minutes in bed.

I just love these three, I remember thinking the night before we had Chance that I wasn't sure how I'd ever love #2 as much as the first, but now 3 1/2 kids later I realize your capacity just grows right along with the kids. And for my kids and their bean-stalk growth patterns, thats a pretty rapid rate. I can't imagine life w/out these three and while they probably wonder some days if I really do like them all that much... (we all have our moments) I'm glad that at the end of the day they're always willing to snuggle up for a good book before bedtime. Thanks kiddos for making the everyday stuff so worth it!! I love you!

Happy Halloween...

"Wanna ticket to the GUN show?"

I'm sure you're dying of suspense to see the shots I'm about to post... and to keep you all in supsense I'll remind you that my sister Barb and her family were the Incredibles last year. You'll also keep in mind that Barb is about half my size (especially now that I'm 7 mos prego) and that red spandex and pregnancy really should not be combined... it's hazardous to your health :) Even still, we braved the halloween party in Orem and the Ward party in true colors. They loved us all and with all the credit to Barb and Gun (for playing football at SUU and providing the Red Spandex)... the wait is now over:

"Or did you know a good vet,

cause my pythons are sick?"

Somewhere the lines between Violet the super-hero and the cheerleader got crossed:

Chuckin' Rocks

For some unknown reason our kids have always had an infatuation with throwing rocks into water. It can be a lake, stream, river... even a good size puddle will do, as long as they can find a pea gravel size rock and see it hit the surface of the water they are satisfied. So when we somehow managed to find this awesome water tunnel with Seveir Creek running under I-70 (with a sidewalk running the full length of the tunnel) the kids thought we'd hit the jackpot! It's October 20th and w/the sun shining, I even found a reclined rock to sit back and enjoy the sun in, it was beautiful weather and the kids would have tried swimming in the creek if we'd of let them.

Before we left I had to get the kids in one of their non-stop crazy poses and believe it or not, I think this may top my list of best action shots for the year... can't stop smiling when I look at it. Sure glad these little ones are part of our crew:

Pumpkin Patch

Chance's big debut for his first fieldtrip was to the Big Red Barn in Santaquin and the famous pumpkin patch at the end of the hayride. Reagan was thrilled to tag along this year, and while Bailey went with her Kindergarten class (and I didn't get to go for the photo ops) the two that went still had a hay-day... literally. Here's what we saw:

My version of School Photos

Every year about the School Picture package, and lets be honest, I'm kind of a control freak, so imagining that a complete stranger will be able to get a legitimate smile out of my kid (when half the time I can't even succeed) makes me leary. So I opt out and usually go to some studio of sorts for the cheap $10 package so I can at least supervise the smile I'm paying for.

This year I got even more brave and decided to try it on my own, up the Nebo loop, right near Reagan's 2nd B-day, Chance is newly 4, and Bailey, well she'll just be on track for a new school picture this time each year. So win or lose, here's our version of school pics this year:

and come on, who's going to take this picture and not get a kick out of this girl! I LOVE it!

My favorite time of Year

Our favorite vacation spot... the Salina Cabin, and the leaves were just incredible this trip. I kind of dread the packing aspect and really think, "Is this worth the effort, we could sleep in our own beds, eat at the house..." but it never fails that once we're there, and I'm surrounded by, well you can see, that I'm re-fueled and SOOO glad we go.

So thank you to my husband who won't let me talk him out of going, even if I get the extra packing time, and the kids who make the trip always so worth it. And even G&G Bird for making us a spot so worth going too.

Happy Birthday to me!

I thought this year rather than harass my poor husband about what he did or didn't do for my birthday, if he were a willing victim, I'd drag him to Tuachan to see Les Miserables. It's a beautiful outdoor theater in St. George, back-dropped against huge red-rock cliffs and the music wasn't too bad either.

Well as if a night away wasn't enough, we went up for Sunday dinner and Gi surprised me with another night away, only this time it was just for me... a spa package for a pedicure and a massage, lunch w/my mom and sisters... we even managed to squeeze in a chick-flick before I got to pick up my Mother-in-law who was here for a quick visit. So I got nearly 4 full days of birthday fun, a BYU game packed right there in the middle on Saturday was also a bonus birthday weekend. Needless to say I was spoiled rotten this year, and at 32... YIKES! I hope the climb up keeps getting better. Thanks Giegh!

Say CHEESE!!

I obviously have the camera out way too

often, so that when the opportunity arises for the little photo-op children to pose, they are most often more than ready to strike a pose and say Cheese! Chance is usually the most likely to pull a face and crack-up laughing at himself, but more than anything we sure like our Sunday rides and all the fun spots we discover!

First Days....

Bailey started Kindergarten and for 2 weeks straight they wore "Colors" to help associate their clothes w/what they were learning. She of course then had to have Reagan match so you'll note her outfit has been picked and coordinated by big sister. When I pulled up in front of the school to park and walk her in (as all the good parents were doing) she promptly informed me "I already know where my back-pack goes so I can just go by myself." I again offered, "Are you sure, this is the day when the parents can walk in..." quick response by Ba, "Nope, I'm good, I'll see you later Mom, love you!" and out the door she went, into the big bad world of Kindergarten. You'll note the "after" shot, shows her just as happy to be there as when I dropped her off.... where in the world does she get that independence?

Chance's first day for pre-school came a week later and he was jazzed about being so big. The fact that he's going w/his two best friends (both red-heads) was also a huge bonus. While my heart goes out to his teacher and all she'll get to face with this handful of firecrackers, you can't help but love them inspite of their freckles and carrot-tops :)

And try as we might Reagan would not be left out of the picture, literally... every time I tried to get Chance by himself, she'd jump in and say CHEESE! So here the three of them are!

Big Man turns 4

Maybe I'm a bit behind, maybe his birthday was actually a month ago, but maybe he's the cutest 4 year old you know and that makes up for my slothful efforts at blogging.

He's been begging for a Power Ranger cake, (keep in mind he's never even seen Power Rangers) but I figured we'd go with it and have a super hero day, so his cake was Power Ranger, his new bike was Spiderman, and he had a Batman and Superman action figure to add to the collection.

So while I'm still behind, at least we're moving forward and we can all tell the little Big Man happy birthday doobie-doo!

Guess what....

This was the first of July and I was just surprised to see so much formation

from the literal "pea" I'd seen at 5 weeks. Moving all around I was

just so excited to see a healthy peanut growing in there.

A pretty good shot of the hand, we'll not see "gender" parts

til our next appt in September, but Bailey went with me to this one and

loved seeing her newest sibling stretching and dancing.

...what a fun perspective to have her there with me.