these are a few of my favorite things: CARSON VERSION 3.0

Carson, you are 3 years old!

Here are some of your favorite things:
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Blanky and 'Barkles'

You love this animal blanket, and I love that! I'm not sure why you took to it so much, but it is a small quilt I made for a Laurel project back in my Young Women days (nearly 14 years ago!). If I'd only known then that the quilt I was putting what felt like sooo much time into would become my baby's favorite, I would never have complained. You also love to sleep cuddled up next to Barkles (Sparkles), the stuffed skunk we bought you in Yellowstone this summer.

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President Monson

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Prunes

(or as you like to call them, "berries")

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Holding Little Figurines in Hand (lately your favorite is Pirate Leo, from Little Einsteins. I feel like it's my 4th child. At dinner time, we have to know where Leo is before we can eat. At bedtime, we have to find Leo. When you get dressed, you refuse to put him down. You hold him in one hand and then switch to put your arms through the sleeves.)

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Temple

You especially love it when you can find it on the hill at nighttime

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Bananas & Strawberries These are definitely your favorite fruits, possibly your favorite food. Particularly the banana - Anytime of day, you are in the mood to peel and scarf it down. Also, you can't begin eating it until you have "answered" it like a telephone.

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Puzzles

Like your older brother, you are content to spend much of your time putting together puzzles. You can do up to 20-piece ones now and have quite the brain for it. You'll assemble it, dump it out, and start the process over and over again!

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Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam

(you're favorite primary song)

time to learn the way of the 2-wheeler...

Wyatt's been dying for warmer weather so that Daddy could take his training wheels off and teach him to ride a 2-wheeler bike. He's not there yet, but he is so, so, so close! Just a little more practicing and he'll be fine doing it all by himself.

it's a girl! (and no, it's not ours)

Our sweet niece Avaree was blessedat her Grandma & Grandpa Taft's home in February. Here are the pictures from that exciting day!

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Halle could not be happier to finally have

a GIRL COUSIN on her Taft side!

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Beautiful Grandma

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ya gotta love trying to get a bunch of kids

to sit still for a photo...

valentines day 2010

Halle in her heart-shaped foam "glasses" they made at school.

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Valentine's morning (which was a Sunday this year) I surprised the family with scrumptious chocolate crepes filled with a cream cheese & white chocolate filling and topped with whipped cream, chocolate fudge, and strawberries. They were to die for! (If I do say so myself!)

Each kid also received a small gift bag with new cute socks, candy, stamps, and stickers. It was a great way to start our day and an opportunity for me to say how much I LOVE MY KIDS!

can we do this every night?

Last night 4:30 rolled around and I wondered what to make for dinner. Nothing sounded good, so I made an executive decision -- loading the kids into the car (yes, Wyatt in his sweat pants and Halle sportin' her end-of-day-hairdo and me still wearing the shirt with the sleeve that the mailbox snagged a new hole into) and called Brett, informing him to meet us at Texas Roadhouse Steakhouse. He happened to be with his Dad, so I invited my in-laws along and we all had a delicious meal. Of course, the "piece de resistance" was the melt-in-your-mouth Roadhouse Rolls accompanied by their sinful cinnamon butter, second only to the great conversation and fabulous company!

After dinner we headed over to Brett's parents to check out their new camper they got for their truck. Times like those I was wishing I had my camera. It's pretty sweet--it can sleep about 3 adults plus a child, has a bathroom, and surprisingly, lots of cabinet & storage space, given it is a camper that sits on the bed of a truck. It definitely gave me the camping bug and I'm so glad summer is right around the corner!

.

We really had a great evening, despite the chilly rain! The only downside to eating out yesterday is that now I can't pull that card tonight. I'll actually have to make something. We've got Steak Fajitas with Corn Salsa on the menu, but after last night's rolls, anything I create won't stand a chance!

GROWING UP...

What was my favorite:

Candy Bar - snickers, kit kat, baby ruth, nerds, chocolate twizzlers (I really loved candy...)

Dinner - mom's spaghetti, chinese food, seafood, steak, pork chops with rice & gravy, Navajo tacos (I really loved food...)

Breakfast - Crepes with applesauce

School Lunch - mac & cheese, hands down!

Teacher - Kathy Erskine (3rd & 5th Grade), Gail Olson (8th Grade)

Recess Game - Swings, Jump Rope

Subject - English/Writing

Friend - Alison & my nieces that were my age

Pasttime - Barbies, Playing at the Discovery Elementary playground

(I was so lucky to live across the street from my elementary school!), watching T.V. while standing on my head (I know...that's so weird. I think it kind of bugged my mom, too.). I watched Smurfs, He-Man, Scooby Doo, Saved By The Bell

* * * * * * * *

What was my least favorite:

Food - fish (the bones grossed me out) & at the time Clam Chowder (hated the "chewy" clams)

Subject - Math

School Lunch - pretty much anything other than their mac & cheese. And I hated (still hate) drinking milk from the cardboard milk boxes.

School Lunch=Blech. I was a big "home lunch" girl with my Pound Puppies lunchbox. I remember enjoying bologna sandwiches with lots of mustard, taking boiled eggs, and kiwi.

Teacher - Mrs. Hardy-Har-Har. At least that's what we called her. Looking back now, I'm sure she was very nice, but in 4th Grade she came across as extremely strict and yelling a lot. The other teacher, who I can say was NOT very nice, but rather perverted, was Mr. Sucher from 8th grade. Talk about heeby-jeebies...

sweet, sweet girl...

I'm proud of my daughter.

She is sweet, sensitive, and thoughtful.

She has a strong desire to please and do well.

Can she be a bit over-dramatic? Um, YES. (But I'm trying to view it as 'enthusiasm'.)

Is she showing signs of adding too much sass in her talk at times? Definitely. (Oh, 'boy...tween years, here we come!)

But this afternoon when she got home from school, she did yet another thing that made me so proud to be her mama.

She did her homework and then headed up to her room to "chill for a while" (her words, not mine). From downstairs I could hear her baby brother trying to go in her room as she got more and more frustrated with this invasion of her "chill time". After a few minutes, he gave up and went into the playroom with Wyatt.

When I went up to work on laundry, I knocked on the door and poked my head inside her bedroom. Gently, I said, "You know, your brothers wait all day for you to get home from school so they can spend time with their big sister." I wasn't going to force it on her--I know everyone needs time to themselves. Believe me, I KNOW! But about 30-seconds later, I heard her come out of her room and enter the playroom where she cheerfully announced,

"Alright, boys...who's ready to have some FUN?!"

What an awesome sister.

What an incredible daughter.

What a fabulous human being.

Love ya, Sis.

eating my words. and my carrots, too.

I used to be very vocal about the fact that purchasing food products that were "individually packaged" or labeled with cartoon-characters was a waste of money.Then I got real.
It's simple math:

Over-Priced, Individually Packaged food products, colorfully labeled with cartoon characters my children are familiar with and think they just have to have = my kids eating their vegetables.

So totally worth it. So totally buying into it.
Hey, whatever it takes, right?

my mom is such a fabulous grandmother...

he might be ready for the next step, but am I?

On his own, Carson snooped in the basket full of clean laundry and helped himself to a pair of Wyatt's underwear. Slipping them over his diaper, he walked around like a proud peacock for the next thirty minutes. Forget the fact he put them on backwards...he was quite pleased with himself to think he was wearing big boy underwear.

He's expressing a lot of interest lately in potty training (once he even went in the bathroom and sat on the toilet (with his diaper on) and when I went in and asked him what he was doing, he said, "The pee was coming out of my bum so I got on the potty."

OK...you don't have to hit me on the head with a hammer. A roll of toilet paper will suffice.
I know I've been ignoring the signs and procrastinating the starting of this process...
It's just that I HATE POTTY TRAINING SOOOO BAD!
But I guess it's time I stop putting it off and maximize on his interest. Maybe that's how we'll be spending our March...