My Proud Mama Moment

Okay, so today was our ward's Primary Program and for the first time I got to have one of my very own kids sing to me! Marianne did such a great job! I had quite a few people come up to me afterward and complement me on what a great singer she was and tell me how impressed they were that she knew EVERY word to literally EVERY song they sang. She even said her part "I have Family Home Evening with my family," all by herself...with no help whatesoever! I loved every second of it and could not wipe the smile off my face! At one point, she was looking at her daddy and her eyebrows went up as if to say, "I'm doing pretty good, right?" Then, she gave a hearty "thumbs-up!" It was so dang cute!

So, then after Sacrament Meeting, the Primary met in the chapel for Opening Exercises. Well, my little 4 1/2-year-old Marianne got to do something so exciting! And it's because she is so brilliant! (Hee hee!) She got to cut off our Bishop's tie with a pair of (not so sharp) scissors! Wanna know why? This year our ward made a challenge to all the Primary kids to memorize all thirteen Articles of Faith. If they get them all memorized, they get to cut off the Bishop's tie. Well, little Marianne finished #13 this week and got to "snip snip," as she would say. I was so proud of her! The first counselor in the Primary Presidency asked her which one was her favorite, which is #10 and asked her if she would say it for everyone. She got a little shy at this point and didn't do it, but she sang a few of them after dinner to my parents, Justin's parents, and Aimee and her boys. I am so unbelieveably proud of her. She really is a smart little girl and she sings EVERY ONE of those Articles of Faith right on pitch. I don't know what I did to deserve such a wonderful, sweet little girl, but she really foots the bill!

Here's Marianne with our Bishop, right after she cut off his tie. It was pretty hard, but she got through all the layers! Way to go Marianne! I LOVE YOU!!!

Hair Stuff Giveaways!

If anyone who has little girls is interested (I guess you don't have to have little girls), you should go to my Pigs and Ponies blog and enter the three giveaways there. Tell them all I sent you and I could win some cute cute bows! Thanks!

Nucklehead Alli

So, tonight I was getting the kids ready for bed. I had all of their jammies on and was brushing Bo and Marianne's teeth in the bathroom. When I was done, I went looking for Allison. She had found one of Rachel's night gowns and tried to put it over her own nightgown. Combine that with her hair that we had just taken out...I laughed OUT LOUD and ran for the camera. What a silly goose!

Allison's First Day of Preschool!

Today was my Alli's first day of preschool. She is such a sweetheart and will do amazing! Here are her pictures. Isn't she a doll?



Allison in her cute "First Day of School" outfit. I love her chubby little legs in these leggings. They are supposed to be about calf length, but she kind of a shrimp, so...ya know!


I think she looks gorgeous and smart in this picture.


Here's Allison with Mrs. Eggett (a.k.a. Aunt Jeri). She is the best preschool teacher out there!

So, here's my bragging section for Als. Read no further if you don't wanna hear it! Allison has been writing her own name for about six months now. It's just the A-l-l-i, but still! She wasn't even three yet! She is always such a great sharer. She doens't even have to be asked. If she sees someone that doesn't have what she's got, she will automatically tell them they can have some. She always shares her drinks with me. Allison has the best laugh of anyone I know. She sounds like those tickle smiley-face toys that giggle and giggle, only cuter! I love you, Al!

Rachel's Blessing Day

Well, the day couldn't have been more perfect! The weather was gorgeous, Justin did a great job with the blessing, we had many of our family and friends with us and Rachel looked beautiful! Here are some fun pictures from the day!



Rachel in her dress after evreyone left. What great big beautiful eyes!


Here's our family afterward. Marianne, Joann, Rachel, Bo, Justin, and Allison.


Here's Rachel with my adorable Grandpa Grose! Aren't they the cutest?


Here is Rachel at the end of the photo session. She had fallen asleep on her tummy and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get a picture of the back of her dress. It was by far my favorite part of the dress, but definately the most nerve racking. Thanks to my big sis Shron for helping me so much! Couldn't have done it without ya! (Does that suffice?)

Thank you to everyone who came and supported us. It was only so wonderful because of all of you! I hope you know how much we love you all!

Marianne's First Day of Preschool

Well, the day finally came! Marianne has been chomping at the bit to start school. She is now attending a preschool just around the corner from our house with a couple of boys in our ward. She already loves it! She told me the other day that she was sad to not be in Jeri's preschool, but that she is excited to go to her new school. At least we get to see Jeri and her familia twice a week for Alli's school. Now, if we could just make next Tuesday magically get here tomorrow, Allison would be happy. She has been waiting and waiting for her school to start, which makes me want it to start yesterday! Anyhow, here are some adorable pictures of Marianne the morning of her first day of school! She is adorable and so stinkin' smart!


Marianne by the big old tree in the backyard. She looks so grown up in her babydoll shirt and flare jeans!


I LOVE this picture of my big girl! What a doll, huh?


Here's Marianne with the two boys from our ward, Brady and Joshua. The sun was very bright, so they were all squinting, but they are cute anyway. Brady tells his mom that he is going to marry Marianne. Ah, young love!


Marianne with her teacher, Miss Vicki. She loves her already!

I am the mom so I get to brag as much as I want. If you don't wanna hear it, stop here. When we went to preschool registration, Miss Vicki had all the kids trace their names for their box labels. Well, after Marianne traced her name, Miss Vicki asked me if she could write it herself. OF COURSE!!! (I did hold back, though. I did not tell her she could write Allison and Bo's names by herself, too!) She already knows the names of all the letters and numbers. She knows all of her colors, too. She is a great colorer and often colors pictures for people, puts them in a grocery sack and hands them out the next time she sees them. She is ALWAYS asking questions to learn more and more. She is a sponge, I swear and B-E-A-utiful to boot! Love you, babe! Have a great year!

Fruit of Our Labors (or lack thereof)

Okay, so we have been cleaning up a bit around the house and in the yard preparing for Rachel's baby blessing on Sunday (which I hope you are all planning on attending!). Well, today, Justin was cleaning out the 33' by 36' area where we attempted our first garden. We planted onions first, which ended up maybe doubling in size from the bulbs we planted. We planted everything else in May, right before that 90 degree weekend. We had not had a chance to get the watering set up properly and almost everything we planted shrivelled up and died. After I had Rachel, I couldn't get out to the garden to weed (didn't really weed much before either ;) so the weeds completely took over the garden area. We had put up some fence sections to keep Holy Moe (the horse) from eating our "wonderful" veggies, so when I say completely took over the garden, I mean it. Anyway, as Justin was cleaning that area and removing the "tree weeds" as he called them, he made me come over and see what he had found! Two full size tomatoes, about a dozen baby tomatoes, and a mini zucccini (about 4 inches long)!!! Can you believe it?!?! I was laughing my head off. And here we thought we had completely BOMBED our first ever attempt at a garden. Go figure!