Silly Dyl!

Look at this goofy grin. Dyl's started to know when to smile for a picture and he sure knows how to ham it up!I just can't get enough! He's also started to cling to blankies and stuffed animals. It is so cute when he grabs a blanket or stuffed animal and snuggles up to me. These are the moments that make it all worth it!
Along with the cute habits, he is developing some not-so-cute ones as well. He is becoming quite the hitter/scratcher/pincher/grabber of his brother and sister. It is daily now that they come crying to me that Dylan has abused them in some way. He has also learned "uh-uh" while shaking his head. He says it to any question that you ask. I think it's cute, but I'm sure it will get old.
Gotta love 'em for better or worse!

Look what I did!

OK...I know that we are not supposed to boast and I am really trying not to, but I am just pretty pleased with myself on this one! I participated in a thing called Pink Christmas. A lady that a friend of mine knows started it last year where you sign up to send a gift to a "girlfriend" that you do not know from anywhere across the United States. (You can read more about it at www.pinkchristmas.blogspot.com) The rule is that it has to be home made. They posted pictures of the gifts from last year and they were really good, so I began to get a little intimidated (most of you know how crafty/artsy I am...Not!) Anyway...I envisioned what I wanted to do, designed it in my head and then faced the challenge of actually having to create it in reality. Here is the result:I made one for myself that I am going to use as a necklace holder. This one is going to a lady named Cristin in Mississippi. I got it in the mail today (phew!)
I am so excited about this. I had so much fun doing this. I designed it, cut the wood myself (on a scroll saw...that was awesome and now I want one!) and even bought a Dremel to do the edging and such. I always dreamed of doing wood work stuff and now that I have had a taste of it, I am hooked! As soon as I have a house, I want to start collecting the tools.
Anyway...Just wanted to share in the excitement that I have had the past couple of weeks. I hope I didn't come off as bragging or being prideful, I just wanted to toot my own horn for a minute...and it's my blog, so I guess I can!

More pics

Go to the following link for some pics from Nov and today.
http://picasaweb.google.com/PoppyThatcher/RandomPictures1107?authkey=PIfSizuAiAg

Ready for Christmas and The First Snow Day

It's amazing how the world can change overnight. We had our first official snow day today and Jesse commented that it had snowed
because it was now December. Good observation!







Dyl's first real snow day! He loved playing outside with the kids and Daddy. I was surprised that he didn't pull off his hat or gloves.








The Widdisons built this snowman with the kids. It turned out so cute. They had so much fun. They are definitely the funner parents!




Last Sunday we decorated the tree. We just have a little tree because we have a little house. It is a very festive tree, however and it was so quick to set up and decorate. The best part is that the lights are already on it. That is definitely the way to go!






We even got to see Santa. Jesse and Grace knew that he was the REAL Santa because he had a real beard...Jesse touched it!







They also got to ride on the little train.







Our fun, creative neighbor, Emily, painted a snowman on her window in preparation for the holidays, so Jesse and Grace decided that we needed a penguin on ours. And here you have it. You may know that I am not an artist in the least, but my kids are my biggest fans, they make me stretch and do things that I would never attempt before. And to tell you the truth...I think that it turned out pretty cute. One more blessing of having children, they keep us reaching and being able to accomplish things never before thought possible. I know that this is a silly example, but they keep me on my toes in many ways that end up making me a better person (at least I hope!)
I hope you all are having fun preparing for the holiday season. I think this is the most fun that I have had in a long time! It's great to have kids old enough to get you in the Spirit!

Thing that I love!

I have been thinking about my life and my kids lately and decided that I spend way too much time focusing on the things that I don't like about my kids (their whining, complaining, messiness, etc, we can all come up with a lot of those) and not enough time thinking about the things that I love about them. So here are 10 things that I love about each one:

Jesse
1. I love that he is so smart
2. I love that he still likes to give me hugs, snuggles and kisses (how much longer do I have?)
3. I love that he is so sweet to his brother and sister (They have their moments, but when he's sweet, he's the sweetest!)
4. I love how he gives Grace and Dylan hugs and kisses before he leaves for school (Grace doesn't let him leave without it-again how much longer?)
5. I love his smile
6. I love how he is so concerned about doing the right thing
7. I love his energy (and wish I had some!)
8. I love how he is so helpful
9. I love how he is so responsible (as much as a 5-year-old can be!)
10. I love my big boy


Grace
1. I love that she is my little princess
2. I love her hugs and kisses
3. I love how she tells me that she still loves me "as much as ever" (quoting Strawberry Shortcake!)
4. I love how she can play by herself for hours at a time
5. I love her crooked little smile
6. I love how her eyes smile with her
7. I love when she sings
8. I love how she knows when she does something that makes Heavenly Father happy (and sometimes sad!)
9. I love that she is so bright
10. I love that little girl

Dylan
1. I love his goofy grin
2. I love his long eyelashes (and secretly covet them!)
3. I love his giggles
4. I love to kiss and tickle his cheeks, tummy and toes
5. I love how he sucks his little left thumb and snuggles under my chin
6. I love to just watch him
7. I love that he is starting to understand when I talk to him
8. I love when he wrestles with Grace and Jesse (it's so cute!)
9. I love his little lion cub growl
10. I just love that little boy!

What do you love about your little ones?

I've been tagged!

I am so excited that I got tagged for the first time by my friend Shayla. I am supposed to tell a few things about myself that you may not know. So here goes...

1. I am a wannabe woodworker and handy man!
I want to build my own furniture someday. I can never find exactly what I am looking for and if I find something close, it costs waaay too much money...so I decided I will just build my own. How hard can it be, right? My first project as soon as we are out of school will be a dining room table. I am hoping to be able to find classes that can help me learn some basics. I would also love to design and build my own house someday (with professional help, of course!)

2. I love to sing!
Many of you may know this, but I secretly would love to perform in a concert of sorts some day. I would have loved to try out for American Idol, but I was too old. I think that is age discrimination, maybe I have the makings for a law suit! I may never get to sing, but maybe I could get some money out of it!!!

3. I would love to live in a hut in Tahiti or somewhere else tropical.
We had a missionary in our ward in California and he was from Samoa. He said that they lived in a little hut on the beach and when they wanted a coconut, they just climbed a tree, if they wanted a fish, they just jumped in the water with their spear and caught one. It sounded so simple and uncomplicated. I would really love to live a simpler life like that. Who knows, it may get boring, but I would like to try it for a little while at least.

4. I bet I'm the only person you know that has been tied to a dishwasher with an extension cord!
When I was a little girl my grandparents lived with us. One day, I was supposed to empty the dishwasher and my dawdling got too much to bear for my grandmother (GG)....so she just decided to tie me to the dishwasher with an extension cord long enough to reach the cabinets. I was horrified and ended up kicking and screaming for about an hour. I wonder if that was better than the dawdling...at least I was happy doing that. Well, I'll tell you, now I can understand GG's feelings. I am tempted to pull out the extension cord with my own daughter. If I didn't know better, I'd swear you'd find her picture next to the definition of Dawdler! GG got her pay back!

5. I would love to go skydiving one day.
I really just should have done it before I had kids, now I have too much responsibility. Someday, though, when my kids are grown, I hope to do it. Who knows, I may get too old and chicken out, but as of right now, I would like to do it sometime.

That's all I can think of at the moment. I hope you enjoy reading. Let's see...who to tag? Shannon, Joanne and Sabrina. Go for it!

The joys of Fall and Halloween

At any given time we can have any number of neighborhood kids at our house raking and jumping into piles of leaves. We have the only good-sized tree in the neighborhood. They have so much fun and it is fun to watch them enjoying themselves. Now if only I could get them to pick them up!






Now...on to Halloween! Can I first just say that I am sooooo glad that it is over! It seems like we just do marathon holidays! We have been "Halloweening" since Friday night and I am just ready and glad to be done. Although a fun time was had by all.

This is at our neighborhood party. Can you believe all those kids! And that's just about half of the kids on our whole street!

The many faces of Jesse! How many costumes can we fit into one Halloween?

This is Grace with her buddy Katie (she lives across the street and they have become inseparable!) at the ward Halloween party. Oh and Grace insisted on doing her own make-up, Lovely!

Dylan with his pal, Luke (he lives next door.) Dylan absolutely loved going trick or treating and he carried his bucket the entire way with a "death grip!" Wo unto the individual who tried to help him carry it!


Our three little trick or treaters

Having fun in a shopping cart with neighbors, Emily, Isaac, Luke and Kyle Widdison (he's are pushing the cart) They're so much more fun than us!!

Last, but not least, these were our Jack-o-lanterns carved quite expertly by Danny.

We hope that you all had a fun and spooky Halloween as well.