Abby saying Thank You!

Can she really be 4?

It doesn't seem that long ago that we celebrated Abby's 3rd birthday. I can't believe my baby is 4 years old. We had a nice little family party at home. Since her birthday was on Sunday and I didn't get invitations out in time for a "friends" party. That's o.k., there's always next year. She was VERY happy with the way her birthday went anyway. Here are some pictures of the celebration. But first I wanted to start a little tradition that I've seen other people do and I thought it was such a great idea. I want to tell 4 things I love about Abby and how she's grown in the past year. 4 because, well, she's 4...

1. She keeps our lives fun and interesting(and gives me something to blog about).
For example; her hair cuts, making pancakes, etc.
2. She loves her brothers and sister.
3. She's learned that it's o.k. to go to primary, preschool, and friends houses, and stay by herself and she doesn't need her Mom ALL the time and she can still have fun.
4. She's so smart. She loves to write her letters, esp. the letter A.

I could go on, but she's only 4...here are some pictures from her birthday...This cute cookie bouquet was from the Singers from San Antonio. She LOVED it! As you can see in the center picture. She just stared at it for about the first 5 minutes after getting it delivered.We didn't want to eat it because it was so cute, but we ate it for our family night treat. They were delicious!

These are her presents from her mom and dad and brothers and sister. She was so excited! What kid isn't excited on their birthday?
All she wanted was a rainbow cake.
I love this age, they're so easy to please.

More presents....the clothes and princess game was from Aunt Lisa, thanks Aunt Lisa. The muffin mix, apron, and cooking stuff, ingenious by the way, was from Grandma and Papa, Thanks Grandma and Papa. She loved it, and wanted to make blueberry muffins right then.
She made them the very next morning for breakfast. Everybody loved them!

My Fall Give Away

I'm having a fall give away in honor of the fall/halloween season. Those of us in town probably are like me and wish that this HOT weather would just go away. I'm hoping that with this give away mother nature gets the hint and sends us some much cooler weather. Anyway, I'm giving away some of my hair clippies that I make, so if you want to win some for your little girl, niece, or whoever you know that likes that sort of thing, then go to brittas boutique to find out how easy it is to enter this great give away.

Backyard soaps, candles, and more

"Harvest Time Gift Set"
I found this website the other day as I was browsing the web and I thought I'd share it with those of you who are interested.
If you like scented candles, soaps, room scents and stuff like that then you'll love this site. That's all I wanted to say. Just click on the title of this post have a good
day!

Pinkalicious

On Sunday the girls and I made pink cupcakes after the book, "Pinkalicious". If you've never read this book, it's a pretty cute book and the girls have wanted me to read it just about every night since we got it at the schools book fair back in June. The girls even help me read it by saying the words before I do. For example at the beginning it says,"It was a rainy day, too rainy to go outside. Mom said, " Let's make cupcakes, what color do you want?" Then the girls chime in, "Pink, I said, pink,pink,pink." And that's how it goes all through the book and I love it. If you have little girls, who love the color pink, then I strongly suggest this book. It's way cute. Here are the cupcakes we made....and they were PINKALIOUS! (Even the boys loved them....of course who doesn't like cupcakes?)

First day of school

If you're wondering why they don't have their backpacks or anything for school, it's because I took this after school, because I couldn't find my camera and I didn't want to make them late on their 1st day by looking for it. When I came home from taking them to school, however, I went back to my bedroom and there it was, sitting on the night stand.
Last Monday was Elsa and Calvins 1st day of school. So they have been in school for a week now. Elsa is loving it, and I've noticed some progress with her selective mutism. When I come to pick her up after school, if she wants to tell me something she just tells me no matter who is around us. It was not like that in Kindergarten. She would pull my head down and whisper very softly in my ear, so there was NO way anyone around us could hear her. I asked her teacher today how she did at school and she said no talking yet, but she gives Elsa lots of cues to say something but Elsa does not take them. That's o.k. though it's only been a week and she has shown lots of improvement so far. She is so smart and so big. As she and Calvin were walking in the school yard today, I was watching Elsa and wondering where my little girl went. She looks like such a big 1st grader and I can't believe how fast time flies.

Calvin, on the other hand, is loving 3rd grade. He just tested for the gifted and talented program on Friday. Which doesn't surprise me, he is very smart. We will know soon if he gets in the program. He hopes so, because he will get to get out of class 3 days a week to go to G.A.T.E.Dallins 1st day of school was today. He did so awesome. He finished ALL of his work and he did it pretty much on his own. There were a couple of things I needed to help him with. I really think this is going to be a great thing for him.
It was also Abby's 1st day of preschool. I'm teaching her at home. She is such a little smarty. We learned about the letter A and when she traced it she did really good. Anyway, I can't wait for tomorrow.

4GR8KIDS & 1GR8HSBND

Well, with tomorrow being the first day of school, I thought I would write a little update on all of the kids to record how they are doing, so I will remember this time forever. They have been really cute and just GOOD lately. When I say good I mean it. Over these past 2 weeks of summer break that they've had, they have been doing so well on their chores and behaving really well.
I think I'll start with Dallin....
He will not be starting school tomorrow. He'll be starting school next Monday, the 31st. He is going to go to Nevada Connections Academy. Dallin is very bright with a different learning style than other kids. His learning style is that he LOVES to learn and if he's not learning something new all the time he easily gets bored. Public school wasn't working out for him, so we took him out and we're going try this other school. It is all online and he can move ahead when HE'S ready. Other than that Dallin has been a pretty well behaved little kid. He does his chores the first time he's asked or not asked at all. (On saturday he and Calvin both got up and did their chores right away so they could watch saturday morning cartoons.) I was shocked and VERY happy.
Next, Calvin has also been a good kid. He is going into the third grade (can you believe it?) and is very excited about it. We went to their open house to meet their teachers and see their classrooms. We found out from his teacher that their first field trip will be at the end of October and they're going to The Springs Preserve. Calvin's loves the Springs Preserve and is pretty excited about that. Also as he walked around his classroom he saw that his friend, Colin is in his class. He was really excited about that because the last class he was in with Colin was Kindergarten and
1st grade. They're pretty good little friends. Of course it doesn't matter if Calvin has people that he knows in his class or not because wherever he goes he makes friends with any and everyone. (Calvin has yet to meet a stranger.) He is our social bug.
Elsa is sooo excited for 1st grade. She also got to go and see her classroom and meet her teacher. She seems like a very nice person and seems like she'll be good for Elsa. Elsa has also been good about doing her chores, except when it comes to doing the family room. (Heck, even I drag my feet a little when I have to clean that room.) We all live in that room so you can imagine how messy it gets. But with some encouragement and a little bribing to go to the park or library or something, she finally gets it done.


Abby is looking forward to having preschool at home with Mom, and having Dallin at home to play with. (After he gets his school work done, of course.) She is still banned from scissors or anything of that nature, and I constantly have to be "on the ball" and know where she is and what she's doing every minute. She is such a sweet and funny little girl however. Just tonight we were showing off our skills with the hula hoop and she would try to jump through the hoop when I rolled it along past her. She also loves to play dress ups and would actually love it if she could wear them all the time. (To church, the school, the store, etc.....I gotta draw the line somewhere.) She is so cute and I wouldn't trade her for anything.....somedays. O.K. O.K. I wouldn't trade her at all.
On Saturday, we had a good time school shopping, we went to Kmart for most of it, then to Target to look for shoes for Elsa, apparently she's been a size 13 for a while and she never complained that her feet hurt or were squished or anything in her size 11's. We got some things for the school kids lunches and stuff like that(not shoes because there wasn't any in her size that she liked, then we went to Payless shoes and bought her a cute pair of white sunday shoes (cause that's all she needed, she already had tennis shoes that I had been saving for her to grow into.) Anyway, then we ate lunch at Target, (what a mad house that was) there were only 2 people working the counter and it was super busy. After Payless,(sorry I back tracked a little), Clint took me to JoAnn's and waited in the car with the kids so I could get stuff to make a lunch bag for Elsa. (Which looks cute by the way) I'm going to post it on my other blog if you'd like to see how it turned out you can go to brittasboutique and see it. Anyway, while I was in JoAnn's I saw that they had their denim on sale for 50% off. So, naturally I had to get a couple yards of it and their Heidi Grace fabric was 40% off, so I got a couple yards of that to make Elsa some cute clothes. I can't wait to get started on that project. Well, when I finally came out of JoAnn's, I was surprised to see that Clint was still in a good mood and the kids hadn't killed each other. Wow! What a great day! Then, Clint dropped us off at home, and he went to get two new tires for the Tahoe, (we're getting two more in the next couple of weeks) then we ended the day with taking the missionaries to eat at the Temple cafeteria, (we forgot that we signed up to feed them), then Clint and I did a session. It was a great day and we still love each other very much.

Families ARE forever.....and I feel so happy about it

This years Anderson Reunion was really fun. Aunt Merrillyn's family was in charge. They had all kinds of things for the kids to do. We got there just in time for lunch, which was delicious. Then we played all sorts of games. The kids thoroughly enjoyed the fish pond, the wading pool of wood chips where they dug through it trying to find toys, and money. And the pinada was really fun to watch all the kids try to break it. Also I know my kids enjoyed decorating their own bag for all their loot and their hat, and I think Clint liked helping them. Then as it was wrapping up I had fun watching them play on the playground with all of their cousins.

It was no wonder that Elsa and Abby crashed on the way to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Andersons house to visit them and give Papa his birthday present after the reunion was over. To see the movies of Papa and Grandma enjoying Papa's present you can go to our other blog if you want.Papa's gift

My favorite pictures out of these is the one of Calvin jumping off of the baby toy to try to dodge the camera. Gotcha Calvin!
Love the hair Abby. I mean cause it's staticy.

After the reunion, just our family went to Salt Lake City to the Craft City Fair, where we met Hannah and Sarah who were manning Cedric's booth while he was playing a gig at a wedding. Anyway, we saw all sorts of things that other people made and were selling. There was some really cute and clever stuff and then there was just plain weird stuff. Like I said, my brother, Cedric and his wife, Sarah had a booth to sell his watercolor drawings. They are amazing and so clever. You can go here if you would like to see some of his stuff. (you will be amazed.) Anyway, then we took the kids to Temple square for their first time. (well that they remember). We went for conference when Dallin was just 6 months old, and then again when Elsa was 3 months old. So really it was like they were seeing it for the first time. Since we got there late, they were just about to close the tabernacle for the evening so we couldn't hear the pin drop. Another time perhaps. We got some good pictures though even though it was dark. It helps to have photogenic kids and a good camera. So enjoy the pictures....

This one was one Elsa took of the boys and Clint and I in front of Joseph, then we got one in front of Hyrum because the boys middle names are the same as Joseph's and Hyrum's first names. Unfortunately, Elsa still has much to learn about getting the whole picture. ;)

Elsa took this one too. Hey, she's getting better!

This one is Hyrum or maybe Joseph. I don't know. Oh well, at least she got us in the picture.

Elsa took this one too. Wow! She's good!

Clint took this one. I like it, even though it is dark. It looks pretty day or night. Wouldn't you agree.

Can she really be this old?

This is Miss McGinnis
Elsa really liked her.

Well, that's it! Our little girl is growing up. I can't believe she is going into the 1st grade. She is so excited about it too. I can't wait 'til she tells Abby that 1st grade is "sooo hard". (That's for you Hannah.) Although I can't even remember saying that to you. Anyway, she did the whole "kindergarten promotion ceremony" and everything where the kids put on a program and sang songs they learned through out the year. It was so cute! Then we all went to our childs classroom and had cake and took pictures. It was great fun had by all.

The cake was so good. (White with custard filling and the good kind of frosting)

Courtney, Maliya,Christina,Arani, and Elsa,of course
These girls befriended Elsa. As they were gathering for this picture one of them said,"This is Elsa, she doesn't talk." Maybe that's why they got along so well. That girl did ALL the talking.

Elsa, Tyler, Bryce, Haley(Tyler's sister), Abby(Elsa's sister)
These kids loved to play with Elsa and our boys after school, while us,Mothers, chatted.

Maliya, Bryce, Tyler,Elsa, and Johnathan

If you look very closely, you can see that
Elsa is mouthing the words, sometimes.

Deja Vu

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Yes! She did it again. Just when we think she has learned her lesson, she does something like this....again. A couple of nights ago we put the kids to bed and were just sitting down to watch a movie together. We had been watching it for a while when Abby came out and stood right next to me, who was sitting on the couch. She handed me a couple strands of hair. I took them, not thinking anything of it because it was only 2 or 3 strands, and sarcastically said thanks. Then she handed me a couple more strands, and then a couple more. I finally said "Abby, where are you getting all this hair?" I looked at her and still didn't notice anything wrong. Then, Clint asked, "Did she cut her hair?" I said, "No, she wouldn't do that again." Clint said, "Look at her, she did." I looked closer and sure enough she did, and a lot worse this time, as you can see from the pictures. As I was brushing her hair and collecting ALL the loose hairs, I kept asking things like, "What am I going to do?" or "How am I going to fix this?" and so on. Abby kept insisting that she looked pretty. Anyway, the next day, as you can see I tried to hide her bald spots with a bandana, which would've worked if she would've kept it in her hair, but Abby is so picky about that and doesn't like anything in her hair. So I started to cut it off. (Sniff,sniff...I loved her long hair.) As I was cutting it she kept telling me not to make her look like a boy. I kept telling her that it was too late for that, she had done a good job of that herself. Well, it is now cut, and I dare say it is kind of cute. Although I'd much rather have it long. As far as learning her lesson. I don't know about that, because later that day she was combing my hair and suddenly I saw my sewing scissors pass by my head. I quickly took them away from her and asked,"What are you doing?" She simply stated, "Cutting your hair."

More of the 4th of July

We went to Mom and Dad's ward's 4th of July breakfast at the park. The primary kids walked in a little parade around the park, some of us played horseshoes, and some just visited. It was good times had by all. I will put more pictures of our family reunion on here later, so check back soon. Laurel and Maisy were so cute in the room under the stairs having a tea party. Elsa and Abby had loved to play with them too. A couple times the girls and I found them in the "Harry Potter room" making a mess and it brought Papa's story to life. ("Such pandemonium" :)

Horseshoes on the 4th of july

I think Calvin had fun playing horseshoes with Papa, his Dad, his brother and his Uncles at the 4th of July picnic. I did a video because for some reason this kid does not like his picture being taken. You can also she that in some of the other pictures where Camille is trying to trick him into getting his picture taken. (Didn't work...he was too smart for that.)1..2..3..Get 'emHa Ha....I got ya Calvin!

Everyone should have one....

Well, if you have a kid who hates to have water poured over their head during bath time, then you should own this. Ever since Abby started taking baths she has never liked water poured over her head (face). I would usually let her play first then wash her hair/body, because when I did she always wanted OUT. I actually saw this a year or two ago at Walmart and thought, "Oh I don't need it, Abby just needs to toughen up." After about a year of screaming and crying and fighting me to not pour water on her, I saw it at Target and decided to splurge a little (it was only about $5, don't ask me why I didn't "splurge" earlier) and get it. Best "splurge" I ever made. Abby loves it, and now I can wash her before she "plays" and give her more time in the tub. Everybody wins!

Take me out to the ballgame and other stuff

While we were on track break, Aunt Steph came into town. We went to the M&M factory to catch the 3-D movie, which turned out to be free. Then, walked through the gift shops, all 4 levels of them. (I think that's why the movie was free, they expect people to buy something.) Of course Aunt Steph had to "spoil" them, so she bought them each a small package of m&m's. (Anything else was too expensive, they had hot wheels car that looked like the m&ms race car for $16.00). Sorry I don't have any pictures there were great opportunities to take some cute pic's but I forgot my camera.

Then, as we walked back to our car, we walked outside on the strip to see some of it. It was a perfect day, weather wise. Then, we got to our car we went to McDonald's, then home to pick up Clint, who had just gotten off work, and headed over to the baseball game. The 51's were playing the Portland Beavers. It was so much fun. Even the girls had a good time. We stayed 'til the end. The girls were getting a little restless by then, but not too bad. Here some pictures to witness our great time....Proof that we were actually at a game, Abby took this.Showing off her toothless grinWe got a game ball with all the team members signatures on it, for being the first few hundred people there. Elsa was happier than she appeared.There's everyone before the game startedWe got the kids pictures as "baseball players", Elsa was the first
one to put her face in, but by the time I got my camera out, she was done. Darn it!
We all put on our "rally caps" in hopes that the 51's would come back and win the
game. They were winning, then the Beavers got a bunch of runs and they ended up winning, but
we had fun anyway with our rally caps and all. Clint, looking goofy as always.Abby even got in on the actionDallin loves baseball games
The next day, we had some tickets to the automobile museum, so we went to see some old cars.
It was interesting, but I'm glad we had tickets. The admission prices were too much. It wouldn't have been worth it if we had to pay. All we did was walk around and look at cars. Don't get me wrong they were cool cars, just not worth paying to see them. They had some James Bond cars, the Startsky and Hutch car, and other cool cars like that. Here are some pictures...This car has 3 wheels. If you look closely you can see that there's only one wheel
in the back. This was one of Clint's favorites.Dallin liked these race carsElsa liked this carDallin really liked this car, I don't blame him, it IS cool.These were Abby's favorite. That little red wagon was pretty cool.This was a pretty cool car too. Some of these cars were for sale, for a LOT of money.

Dallin, I think your a little too young to be at the bar. How would you like to go to this picnic. Yes! that is money all around them.Here's Calvin trying to dodge the cameraAbby really liked this car/couchAbby wanted to take a picture....she did pretty good