It's Great to be Eight!

Connor's baptism day, was in his words, the best day of his life. He had to wait over a month for the day to come, but waiting made the day all the more special. Towards the last week of waiting, Connor started counting down the days. It was fun to watch the anticipation on his cute face. It's great to be eight!

Connor and I had a fun date a few days before his baptism, where we went to the Scout store and Deseret Book where we purchased some stuff for cubs and got him his own set of scriptures. It's great to be eight!

Once the day arrived, the count down changed to hours. And then the time came for he and Aaron to make their way to the Stake center so they could be fitted for their jump-suits. Aaron said that Connor was cute jumping and dancing around the changing room with his jump-suit on. Connor said he liked that there was a zipper and it was easy to put on. What he didn't like was that it was tight around the waist.

We were thankful to have some family and friends there to help celebrate and watch Connor take this important step in his life. We were especially glad Grandma Billie could be in town (she is usually in Safford these days). We missed Elder and Sister Harms who are serving a faithful mission in South Africa. Thank you all for showing Connor your love and support!

Connor says his favorite parts of the day were going under the water and singing his special musical number. He said the water was cold! Everyone told him the water was going to be warm. I think he felt a little jipped. When I asked him what he liked about his musical number, he said he liked singing with his sister. What a sweet big brother!




One of my favorite parts of the day was Drew throwing in his flair. He made sure to be a part of the memories in his "two year-old kind of way". What we won't mention is his big fit he threw on the drive to the stake center. But what we will mention is this: The stake installed a new sheet of glass on the baptismal font right in the front so that those little ones who kneel down to watch don't topple in. What they didn't realize is that those little ones now have something new to touch and play with. Right during the baptismal prayer, Drew banged his little hand on the glass and said, "Connor!" Everyone got a chuckle out of that. And then, during the special musical number, Drew escaped out of his Daddy's lap where he had to add a special melody on the piano. Since Aaron's hands were busy recording the song, and my hands were busy playing the piano, he got away with it all, and there was nothing we could do about it. Bishop even thanked Drew for his help with the music.

It has been a strange feeling for me to have an eight year old and to watch my first born be baptized. One of those moments that will always stick out in my memory as a new chapter in the book of motherhood. I am proud of Connor's decision to follow Christ's example to be baptized. I am proud of the good kid he is. He has always been sensitive to the spirit and I hope he will continue in this path. We love you Connor! It is great to be eight!

The Best Kitty-Cat Ever

I'd like to introduce you to my favorite kitty-cat. He doesn't shed, scratch or make the house smell like kitty-litter. Well, he does make a different kind of stench...but we won't count it against him in this particular post.

He loves to jump up on my lap, (The jump is literal here.) nuzzle cheek to cheek, and say meow. Only he doesn't say meow. He says (and this is my favorite part) Eeow. It's especially cute with a stuffed up nose.

He hasn't been around too many a kitty. (Aaron is allergic and so we try to stay clear of the pet dander.) So I wonder how the kid knows what to do to imitate a kitten? All I know is that he's super cute and fun to cuddle with. Sad will be the day when the kitty has gone away. If you come over some time soon, maybe you'll be graced with the presence of my kitty Drewbie.

A block of wood and a dream...

It was Connor's first Pinewood Derby. He was so excited. He knew just what he wanted to do and Aaron was very conscious not to get in his way (aka make the car HE wanted).



Connor drew the shape he wanted on paper first and then on the block of wood. Aaron helped him start the cut and then Connor finished it.




Then Connor sanded it down (again with parental supervision).



And then he painted it. He wanted it to say U-S-A on the top, so he thought red would be a good color.






He wanted to have an 8 on the side because he is eight years old (makes sense).




He decided to call it Crazy 8, although Great 8 was a close second (it rhymes).



He wanted headlights on it so he painted a pair of googly eyes yellow and glued them to the front. Dad helped with the wheels and adding enough weight, other than that it was all Connor.



He won his first three races before losing to the eventual first and second place cars. He had such a great time. He got an award, a drink and a bag of chips (happy day).



On the way home he asked Aaron if he could get a glass case to put his car and award in for display. When Aaron laughed he said, "What? People do that with their awards." Aaron wiped the smile from his face, nodded and said, "You're right, we'll look into that."

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

December is a busy month: Christmas recitals, programs, parties, decorating, shopping, etc...add a couple of birthdays in the mix and it's down right crazy. We have had a great month. A busy one, but a great one. Now that things have settled down a bit, I can finally post what we've been up to. If I had had the time and energy, I probably could've made at least 7 detailed posts over the past month. But, I will have to give a short synopsis of our crazy, fun month...

We got to go to Phantom for Aaron's B-day.

Thanks, Dad and Mom Blaylock for the tickets.

The show was awesome.

Drew is two!

I can't believe how big my boy is!

There has to be a frosting mess or it's not a real birthday!

Here's our slugger sporting his South African hat
from Elder and Sister Harms


Mesa High State-Championship Game
We had fun supporting Kolter and Kyler and the
rest of the Jackrabbits.


Christmas traditions
We are one of the few who still get a real tree every year.
The kids love lighting my Christmas Pyramid from Germany.


Connor's 2nd Grade class
They sang 'Twas the Night Before Christmas


Rachel's dance recital

Our pretty ballerina posing after the show.
Best buds Rachel and Rylee

Connor's BirthdayFHE at Chucky Cheese's
Thanks PBS and Disney Channel for continually showing Chucky's image

to my 2 year old; he knew Chucky's name and everything.

Connor opening his birthday presents.

Connor discovered he really likes ski-ball.
And he's pretty good at it too.

Rachel showing her moves on the dance party game.


Careful Aaron, you might enjoy yourself at a kid's party.


Since our birthday boy doesn't like pizza, we left Chucky's
and went to Wendy's...Connor's favorite.

The kids had fun playing in the decorative windows.

I'm sure the people eating next to us were thrilled.

Connor opening his presents at the cousins' birthday party.

We had a yummy brinner. Pancakes, eggs, bacon and cinnamon rolls for dessert.

Christmas Eve

We didn't have a program, but we did sing a few Christmas carols

before we opened presents. Chinese food from Costco was great, too.

African masks Elder and Sister Harms sent in a Christmas package.

Cute Carter and Drew having fun with their African maracas.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for your thoughtfulness!


Christmas Morning

Waking up to see what Santa brought.

Drew loves backpacks. Probably because everyone has one except him.

Now he has joined the backpack club with his very own Handy Manny Backpack!

Santa brought Rachel a doll that was on her list.

Can you see the excitement in his eyes?
He was thrilled to get his marble set.

We hope everyone had a great Holiday season. We sure did. Now it's on to resolutions, goals and a fresh, new start. Maybe one of mine should be to post on the blog more frequently.

Our Day of Thanks

I hope you all had a safe and happy Thanksgiving. We always have so much to be thankful for. This year was a first for me. I cooked my first turkey!! Since my parents are on their mission in Africa, we had to scramble to pull Thanksgiving together. Two of my sisters and I had a cooking party and helped each other try to figure out what Mom's been doing for years. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and the tummy hungrier for Mom's cooking.

But all in all, I think the dinner was a win. The turkey was moist (2 sticks of butter will do the trick) and the rolls raised. All the trimmings were yummy. Thanks Sherry and Jennifer for the new memories of cooking together! Turkey's done...let's eat!

By the way, can I say how much I love pumpkin? I bought one can of pumpkin and it lasted 3 recipes: some yummy doughnuts, 2 loaves of bread, and a batch of pancakes. I was a baking fool...I love pumpkin!!

My Girl's all Grown-up and Saving China

Ok...so she hasn't joined the Chinese army to fight off the Hun and she doesn't have a little red dragon named Mushu...but that's how I feel about my little Rachie. It seems just like yesterday when she was learning to sit up, roll-over, and crawl. Boy does time fly. I don't know what it is about being five and a half, but kids sure do grow up a ton during this year. Rachel is no exception. She absolutely loves kindergarten and I know she is the the apple of her teacher's eye. She has taken to school like a duck to water. She loves reading and enjoys taking the timed test on her math facts to try and get more done than last time. I can't believe my baby girl is reading!

Rachel has been a thumb sucker since she was a newborn. It was cute when she was a baby, and it was nice that she could sooth herself without me having to keep tabs on a binky. But once a kid gets to 3,4,5 years old it isn't as cute anymore. The worries of braces and such come to mind. (Not to mention all those germs.) So after trying a few ways to discourage the thumb sucking over the years (sticker charts, band-aids, etc) we used some stuff called Mavala that worked like magic. http://www.amazon.com/Mavala-Stop-Nail-Biting-Sucking-Prevention/dp/B0000YUXI0 After a week of using it on Rachel she was done sucking her thumb! (Drew took 2 weeks) Now it's time to start a savings account for the braces. I am so glad my baby girl is finally done sucking her thumb.

Rachel is now a 2 wheeler bike rider! We took her training wheels off one day while Aaron was at work. I thought I would work with her for a few minutes and then Aaron could finish it off when he got home. She was doing really well after just a few times up and down the road with me. Poor Aaron didn't get the chance to help her because she was already zooming down the road on her own by the time he got home from work. I can't believe my baby girl is riding her bike without training wheels.

Halloween 2009

Another Halloween has come and gone. It's not my favorite holiday, but the kids love it so I try to comply. I remember being a kid and wanting to decorate the house for Halloween. So we would color our own pumpkins and scary cats and tape them up to the widows of the front of the house. So when the kids begged me to decorate the house we made a trip to the dollar store. See, I'm trying. And when the kids wanted to go out and look for costumes I even went to 2 stores!

This year we went with the Power Ranger theme. Not that we even watch the show. Connor loves robots so he decided he could be a robot Power Ranger. Rachel was excited to be the Pink Power Ranger and loved the idea of wearing a mask. Didn't we all love the "idea" of wearing a mask? Then once you try to walk around at night with the thing on and it quickly comes off. Drew just completed our ensemble with his cuteness. Let's just say that I felt extra safe that night knowing I has these crime fighting heroes with me.

Just as we were getting ready to go out the door Connor threw-up. I could see in his face how bad he felt. But the idea of missing out on the fun and candy was too much for him. He begged me to be able to go out trick or treating. What's a mom to do? So I let him go and told him that at the slightest tummy twinge we were going home. He lasted all night and then some. Sorry to all you mommies out there. I hope we didn't infect the world with Connor's sickies. But how can a kid miss Halloween?!

It was fun to hand out candy with my sister Jennifer and brother-in-law Kenny, and our friends the Dixons. Thanks for hanging out with us guys. On another note, I just had to show off Aaron's jack-o-lantern. This was all hand done. No cheater stencils here! Go Suns!

After all was said and done I think the night was a success. And here's the proof. I wish I could sprawl out on the floor like that with all my candy!