Draper Family

Can't kick the sick!

2012-01-21T09:29:00.000-08:00

I feel like our family has been sick forever! I can't wait until everyone feels better. It's so sad seeing my little children with that blank pathetic stare. Just about everyone is on the mend now. Elizabeth is still sick (she had a temperature of 103.9 at one point yesterday), but I'm

hoping she'll pull through soon. We've been giving her a lot of baths, frozen gogurts and of course, medicine. My poor baby...

Okay, so on a happier note, here are some pictures of the kids before the bugs. We had a really fun family home evening the other night. We spoke about choosing the right. The highlight of the evening was making, "CTR" pretzels. The kids had such a fun time.

This picture of Isabella cracks me up...pure joy!

Bella's been doing this fake smile thingy recently. Too funny, but I want the real smile back!

These were totally yummy by the way. The recipe is in the January 2012 friend (if you're interested). It was super simple.

Libby walking (53 sec)

Dad and Libby do the "la-la" talk (49 sec)

Elizabeth gets a kiss (1:23)

Elizabeth plays chase with mommy (1:17)

Bella and Luke show off their mad skills. (1:56)

It happened....again.

2012-01-05T15:27:00.000-08:00

I didn't think that I would be seeing Luke produce so many messes in so little time. I tell you what, this boy has been biiii-zay! Over the last week he has shown a fascination with soap. He often times will be caught in the bathroom washing his hands.

Well, this desire to have clean hands has been taken one step further. He not only likes to wash his hands now. He like to wash the counters and the mirrors. In my last post I was able to document this new found "hobby" of his through the use of air freshener. He also enjoys brushing his teeth (a lot), coloring (on walls too now) and of course, playing with multiply ingredients that can be found in the fridge like, hmmm, I don't know ...EGGS - need I say more?

Well, in one day Luke has managed to make bigger messes than the last two weeks combined. Unfortunately for you, the reader, I only have one video to share for that wonderful, blessed day.

On this particular day I was helping out a friend by watching two of her kids. This made my day a little more busy, but nothing too bad. Luke seemed to develop the ability to accomplish a whole lot of mischief while I was otherwise occupied (be it changing diapers, making lunch for everyone, looking for binkies, etc.) During the course of the day I found two minor soap messes which led to soap in the eyes. I also found a BIG soap mess for which there are still remnants that need tending to. He also is the author (or so I believe) of a major refrigerator mess. Within this mess there was sprawled about the floor parmesan cheese (my arch nemesis), the entire box of baking powder, salad dressing, cottage cheese, brown rice and a sippy cup of milk. I am quite fortunate that the cheese and baking powder where the only items that were found in a dusty scatter all over the floor. It actually could have been a lot worse.....there could have been eggs involved.

Luke is loving his spiderman stuff. I find it funny that he was a better spiderman before he had the costume. I might have to have either me or Josh train him in the ways of super hero combat posing. I have a funny feeling that this job, if it were to be done would fall on my shoulders. So, we'll see what happens. I guess it depends on whether I'm feeling outgoing or not. We'll see...

Luke is actually shooting webs at me in this picture. He's definitely going to have to work on this pose. I'm so not intimidated.

It's a good thing that Spidey is the "friendly" neighborhood Spiderman.

Elizabeth is growing up so fast. She jibber-jabbers a lot now. It kind of sounds like "leego-leego-leego-leego". I have yet to capture it on film, sorry. I just love this little girl. She's such a happy little child.
She was being so cute the other day. I kept placing her on her new rocking horse from Christmas. At one moment she was giggly and happy. The next, she was sad and crying. She either has an extreme love/hate relationship with this horse, or else she was just really tired. I happen to know for a fact that she was just really tired.

Love

Hate

I couldn't finish this post without mentioning a little bit about Isabella. Last week at church we learned about the gift of agency and that there are consequences for the good and bad choices that we make. While we were at Costco one morning she asked me, "Mama, when is grandpa coming to visit?" I told her that he'd be here in a couple of weeks, but that he would be really busy with work and may not be able to stop for a visit. She then replied, "Grandpa is going to stay at the lake and not see us. That is a bad choice." Ha! I thought that was so funny.
On the same say I was taking her to school. I can't remember what we were talking about (we're always talking about something make no mistake) when out of the blue she stated, "I love my grandma." I thought that was very sweet. I then asked her why she loved her grandma so much. She said, "Because she reads me stories." This was also very sweet.
There was also a funny thing she said today. We were driving home from school this time. I had looked in her bag and found two fliers. One was promoting a children's play/theatre group and the other was for flag football. They both cost over $100 to join. When she asked me when we were going to go and do those wonderfully fun things I said that I didn't know if we could. Her response was something along the lines of, "Oh no, but we've already been invited mom!" I'm hoping that this is coming across as funny because it sure was at the time. I was laughing out loud. I wish I could remember every amusing thing that my children do, but I just don't remember that well. I guess that's what videos are for.

So, without further ado, I give you, your videos:

Luke practicing his Spiderman moves

Luke and Spiderman Theme Song

Bella chases Libby.

Mom chases Libby.

Luke's fridge mess...

Gotta love the mess!

2012-01-01T16:27:00.000-08:00

We went to the park! This happens very rarely, so I always make sure to bring my camera to document it all. I need this documentation so I can show my kids later that, yes indeed I took them to the park. I then can show them my blog where on display will be pictures from all of our many exciting adventures (which are actually very few and far between. Below are some of our favorite moments at the park. Luke loves the swings best. He rarely wanted to go do anything else. I'm not quite sure what Bella's favorite park activity was. She seemed to like a variety of things.

Isabella received a Hello Kitty scrapbook for Christmas. She absolutely loves working on it. She is learning to be very patient because she can only complete 2 pages at a time (per day). Waiting for glue to dry can be very hard on a 4 year old. Mommy, however, loves the fact that we have to wait for glue to dry.


D-O-G somehow got bejeweled during our scrap-booking fun time.

Luke has been into everything these last couple of days. I have to watch him like a hawk or else....I'll be paying for it later. The latest messes he has created have been caused by crayons, markers, toys, air freshener and eggs. I've attached a few videos so you can better understand the way things have been lately.

Air Freshener

Park Video: Bridge

Park Video: Slide

Park Video: Elizabeth (Take 1)

Park Video: Elizabeth (Take 2)

Isabella's First Scrapbook

Eggs!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-30T19:39:00.000-08:00

This has been a Christmas season unlike any other. The biggest difference was the lack of family gatherings and no grandparents to share in the festivities. We were kind of at a loss as to how to properly celebrate. We did spend Christmas Eve with Josh's cousin (Carrie Hansen) and her family. We cooked/baked and played games all day. They were a huge help to us after the game playing as well. Santa and his two little elves had been slacking bigtime and needed help finishing everything in his workshop (if you get my drift). They stayed and helped until it was all done. Bless their hearts. Thank you Carrie and David! Santa didn't get to our house until probably 2am.

We also were able to get together at Shawn and Janet's house on Christmas Day. Janet made Santa hats for everyone (so cute). We had a yummy dinner and fun visiting with each other. Besides these two get-togethers, we didn't do much else with anyone. We are grateful for the time with our family that we were able to have. Oh - and I forgot to bring the family calendar for Shawn and Janet. I remembered that I had forgotten it about half way to their house. By the way, the calendar was much easier to do this year. This was mainly because Costco did it. I did spend some time putting it together, but for the most part it was much simpler for me than prior years. The important thing is....It's Done!

A funny thing happened this year with Santa's treats. Usually Isabella will help me or Grandma Poyfair make cookies for him on his big night. This year Isabella thought that Santa might be bored with always eating cookies at everyone's houses. So, she wanted to make him a peanut butter and honey sandwich to go with the cookies. And so we did, only we used a gingerbread man cookie cutter to make the sandwich fun. We also added mini m&m's for eyes, mouth, and buttons. She was so excited to see the crumbs on his plate the next day. Oh, the magic of Christmas!

We also wrote letters to Santa and sent them in our magical mailbox. You should have seen her face when she opened it to find that yes the elves had indeed delivered her letter to Santa up in the North Pole! Oh! And another really cute thing about this year - Isabella and Luke received an emailed video from Santa himself! Unfortunately, a malicious cookie virus-r-other was attached to it. It's a good thing we have security on our computer (dad).

The favorite gifts this year were for Isabella: a lalaloopsy silly hair doll, and for Luke: spiderman toys (of all sorts), and a hot wheels crash track. Elizabeth doesn't care yet, but I'd say her favorite thing was the musical light up radio thingy that Tucker gave her. If you've forgotten, Tucker is the little boy I babysit. His mother, Michelle, is Isabella's preschool teacher. She absolutely went overboard on us for Christmas! I'm grateful, but I feel guilty excepting so much. Especially when I didn't provide Tucker with anything near to what she gave my kids.

The Story of the Silly Hair Lalaloopsy Doll:

It was a dark and stormy night (well, maybe not so stormy...okay, it wasn't stormy at all, but it was dark). I had no idea how hot an item this silly hair doll would be. I remember seeing the commercials about a month ago for the doll. Isabella had said she wanted it. I thought it was cute and thought to myself, "I'll have to keep that doll in mind this Christmas." If only I had been more proactive!!

So, like I said it was a dark night (around 9pm). All the kids were in bed. Josh had been shopping earlier that day and had purchased a lalaloopsy doll (not silly hair) from Costco. As soon as I saw it I knew it wouldn't work. We had been searching ALL over EVERYWHERE for the silly hair variety with no luck. I was resigned to have a generic run of the mill lalaloopsy doll. I had resigned myself to this fact and was finally at peace with it all - or so I thought. After looking at the newly purchased prize I soon realized that it was completely and positively aweful. Josh had managed to find the only doll with weird glue smeared all over the doll's face. I looked at him with a questioning look and he blankly stared back saying, "What?" What?!?! The doll looked like it's face was camouflaged with glue! I decided right then and there that I was going to out and find the doll myself. I went to Walmart first. There was only one girl doll and one boy doll left. I grabbed the girl doll. The girl doll I grabbed just happened to be one that Isabella had said she preferred when comparing against other dolls that were no longer in stock. There were a bunch of boxes on the floor and on crates. I waited around for a while for one of the workers to see if maybe on of the elusive silly hair varieties of the doll might be found within the new shipment....no go...So off to 2 other Walmart's, a Target and a Toys "R" us.......no go. Everyone was receiveing shipments that night , but were not allowed or were incapable of disclosing what contents might lye within those precious shipment boxes!!! I would have to wait till the morning and call.

While I was in the Target a worker told me of 2 other Target's that actually had one silly hair variety left!! I was so excited, but just in case I bought another doll at Target (which was the right doll (Jewel Sparkles), wrong variety (non-silly hair). That's right. We now owned 3 dolls. The camouflaged Costco doll, the blue-haired Walmart doll and the Jewel Sparkles non-silly hair Target doll. I almost drove out to the Frisco Target store where one of the silly hair varieties was supposedly located. It was getting close to midnight at this point, I had a small idea of how to get to Frisco, but finding a particular Target store within Frisco was seemingly bleak and without a cell phone as well, I decided it might be better to wait until morning.

When I got home I did more research on the internet for once again I was in search of the slippery silly hair doll. I checked my maps, store locations, hours, and stock available. I was ready for the next day so I went to bed. I was so anxious, it took me forever to get to sleep. I'm sure I must have had at least one freaky weirdo dream about lalaloopsy silly hair dolls and hunting them down.

The next day I found that the target store which held the silly hair dolls were located very close to Josh's cousin, Carrie. So, I gave here a call and asked her if she would be willing to pick up one of the dolls for me. She is totally sweet and said, "yes"!! I called the Target stores to see if I could put them on hold until she came to pick them up. Sadly, it was all false and untrue. They in fact had no silly hair lalaloopsy dolls. They informed me that the available dolls that were shown to be instock online were most likely stolen because they didn't have any. I called back Carrie and cancelled the once exciting idea and continued on with my search. I called every Target/Walmart store within an hours drive of my house....no go. I resigned myself to failure. I even got to the point where I no longer cared if Isabella knew what I was doing. At first, I hid myself in the garage as I made my phone calls. Toward the end of my search I let her see/ hear anything I was doing if she was so interested in doing so.

A week or so passed and Josh and I were lucky enough to get the Parma's to babysit our kids so that we could go clothes shopping. We went to Ross and had a great time blowing all of our money. It was getting late and we still had to get a few last minute/secret things at Walmart, as well as some baby food. We walked around the store and as we were passing the toy section you would not believe the beautiful, new, delightful, splendid display of SILLY HAIR LALALOOPSY DOLLS!!!! They were just sitting there innocently on a shelf. AAAHHHH!!! I souldn't believe it. I was so enthused I didn't know what to do with myself!!! I 'll tell you what I did with myself.....I bought 2!! On for Isabella and On for Elizabeth. Oh, I know Libby doesn't know what's going on this Christmas, but who cares???? I found them!! That's all that really mattered!

So, at one point in time we had 5 dolls. I eventually got around to returning the other 3. Ahhhh, it was so nice. I love thinking about that moment. Thank you Parma's!!! Without your service I would never have attained this glorious prize and completed my quest!

And so, if you can imagine, our Christmas was quite magical for the kids....and for mommy too.

Isabella's Pre-school Class at Old Settlers Elementary School. Ethan, Diego, Isabella, Parker, Jake and Maddy.

Elizabeth in her custom-made Santa hat. Thanks Janet! They're adorable.

Luke and his Spidey stuff. GGP: That's the toy you gave them (it talks and hangs from suction cup webs).

The naked Silly Hair Lalaloopsy Doll. For some reason, every doll acquired at our house finds itself naked shortly thereafter.

We're almost all wearing those magnificent Santa hats. Luke is saying, "Ho, ho, ho Merry Christmas!"

Random cute picture....I couldn't resist.

Gingerbread (graham cracker) Houses!

Luke really didn't want to wear that hat. I think he might have been scared of it. He'll change his mind, next Christmas....I hope.

Luke helps Libby open her tinkely push-toy present.

Cotton Candy face!

Bella doesn't like the sticky.....ha ha!!

For singing time before Christmas I wrapped up Isabella to look like a Christmas tree. I hung ornaments on her with a song to sing taped on each one. The kids loved it....and so did Isabella!

Isabella's Silly Hair Lalaloopsy Doll

Luke's Spidey Mask

Fun with Elizabeth

Horsey Ride

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-30T16:17:00.000-08:00

Whooo! I just got done uploading the pictures for this post. Watch out, it's a doozie of a post here. Make sure you've got some time to settle in here.
Okay, so before leaving for Arkansas (as we now do every year) to stay with Dane and Christie, Isabella just had to make a scarecrow. Aunt Janet took all of the kids on a little nature walk last time we were all out at the lake. Isabella brought home a bag of pine nettles and pine cones that she wanted to make a craft with. By the way, my subconscious thanks you Janet for this wonderful gift. It helped me to explore and develop the creativity (or lack thereof) that I currently possess. So, we made a scarecrow and this is how it turned out:

The Scarecrow - Isabella's pride and joy!

Occasionally I'll find Libby conked out somewhere in the house. Josh found her on this occasion. I just love this little girl - so sweet.

Luke's new favorite spot to sleep; that's right, under the bunk bed. No matter how tired he is when we put him to bed, we always find him here when we come to check on the kids at night. What a funny little guy.

Putting up Christmas lights before heading out to Arkansas for Thanksgiving break.

Luke's new fascination is super heroes. He likes to run around the house doing his very best imitations. Here he is now striking a pose. Spiderman is his favorite (if you were wondering).

Tyler's Baptism

Teague's Blessing Day with Mommy

What an angel. I love Teague's smile.

Teague's Blessing Day with Daddy

Family Photo to commemorate Tyler's baptism and Teague's baby blessing. This family knows how to take pictures - totally photogenic!

Uh-oh, somebody found the markers.

My little joker-faced baby!


Making Thanksgiving table toppers with Christie. They made these cute little turkeys where they wrote the things they were thankful for on the turkey feathers. My sisters are SO creative! The kids had a blast with this.

Josh and I had a couple of scares during our visit. Elizabeth had two really bad falls. Before the first fall, we were all sitting around the table to eat dinner. We heard a loud, "Thunk" after which I got up to see what happened. Elizabeth slipped and fell on the tile whil attempting to grab stuff out of the garbage. I went to go pick her up and when I did her eyes rolled back in her head and she went completely limp. Her color started to change and she may or may not have stopped breathing (I was way to nervous/beside myself to really remember). I started freaking out and Dane and Josh were to quick to come over and administer a blessing to her (heavy sigh). She started to come to during the blessing and we did our best to keep her awake for as long as possible. It happened in the evening and we were successful in keeping her awake for 5 hours (I was going for 8, but that's pretty good considering it was already close to her bedtime). We kept her awake with a bath and sweets.
The second fall resulted from her shimmy-shaking her bumbo off of the kitchen counter while I was in the restroom helping Luke. From all reports she landed face first on the hard tile (again...second day in a row too). When I picked her up her eyes were shifting from normal to cross-eyed. Poor little girl. I feel so guilty even as I write this. I feel like such a horrible parent for allowing such things happen.

Don't worry though, she's doing fine now...

After first fall, bath and red licorice

Just prior to second fall

That bit of handy work you see on Teague's head is a cute little owl hat that Aunt Janet made. She is SO amazingly gifted in ALL things arts & crafts & DIY!

We figured since we had an extra adult or so on hand, we'd take some family picture's while we were there. Enjoy! And thanks Christie!

Luke played himself into the ground every day. All of the kids had such a great time. We can't wait to go for another visit soon.

Josh and Christie on the yearly DIY project. This year: Touching up cabinets that needed sanded and stained.

I'm sure Isabella will treasure this memory of Garrett for many years to come. She LOVES Garrett! He is so good to be aware of the younger kids and spend time with them. It makes them feel so special and loved. Garrett, is you're reading this I just want you to know that I think you are an extraordinary young man. Thank you for all you do in striving to be a good man in the future - an amazing example to us all. Love you!

Dogs..."Attention!"........Do you want a snack?

I can't remember if this was staged or for real. Let everyone know that this scripture study, journal write, scrapbooking party thingy is for REAL! These boys really do all of this stuff. The best kids ever I tell you!!

The annual Twilight saga party. Opening night for the first installment of, "Breaking Dawn". I can't believe that there's only one more movie left...crazy. Another thing that's crazy is that I actually go to these things. I can't stop now though, it's tradition. I have to say that these movie are so cheesy and dumb, yet I can't seem to draw myself away from it all. I'm hooked I tell you! From left to right: Leah Bartlet, Emily Parma, Lani Taumoli, Kelsie Sherrill and me.

Halloween 2011

2011-12-30T14:56:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday and Happy Halloween. This day is always busy. Two holidays in one is always fun. It's too bad Josh doesn't enjoy dressing up. He could really add some pizzaz to his birthday and no one would think twice about it. So over 6 years of marriage I have learned a few things, "No dressing up, and No surprises". What?!? Oh well, I have to say that I am so lucky to have Josh. He is such a wonderful husband and father. I suppose it will be okay if I can't surprise him ever or enjoy him dressing up on Halloween (we aren't kids anymore after all)....well I can still do those things. I'm not grown up yet.

Josh's favorite birthday dessert, "Robert Redford" as he likes to call it. Take out the vanilla pudding and it's what my family likes to call, "Nutty Torte"

The witching hour has arrived. Heading out the door for trick or treating. This lasted 2 hours by the way in which we went around our block once. It will be great when the little tikes grow up a bit. Then we can go faster and really take in a good haul (insert maniacal laugh here).

Trick or Treated - Out! Look at that tongue! I wounder what candy that girl was eating....

Bella having fun with dress-up and mommy's boots.

Luke's new thing: steal food and eat it under the table. It's also a good pooping spot.

Homecoming parade. I think the theme was circus or clowns or something. It was fun, but they didn't throw candy this year. Some older kids came around passing it out. It was nice not getting beaned in the head this year, although we didn't gather as much candy as last time. I like the trade off though. Getting beaned in the head with candy really doesn't feel well, ask Luke, he knows.

Homecoming parade

Ready to go have fun at a Halloween party.

Halloween party at L.L. Woods park.

September 2011

2011-12-30T14:07:00.000-08:00

This September Dane and Christie came to town. It was a lot of fun (though truthfully I don't remember it that well seeing how it's now the eve of New Years Eve).

One thing that I do remember is going to "The Robot Park". It was the greatest park ever! It had so many fun toys, slides, ducks, obstacle courses and everything. One thing that I didn't particularly enjoy was driving there. Christie was following me and we could NOT find this park. It took us 2 hours to get there (but really should have taken us one). It was a great memory and the kids had a great time. Will I be going again in the near future?? Probably not.

I love this picture of Kian - so joyous. Let me just say that this kid loves to play!

Isabella, Tucker, Luke, Tyler, Garret, Celeste, Kian, Emilie and maybe Josh and a few others way back there.

The odd duck

Is Addie looking at the odd duck? I'm not quite sure.

Beware of Puke Point

2011-09-05T14:11:00.000-07:00

This Labor Day weekend our family got all packed up to go and enjoy a fun-filled vacation at my parents lake house in Chandler, Texas. Well, it was a nice idea anyway. We got about 45 minutes into our 2 hour drive when all of a sudden....Luke ubchucked two or three times. Yuck! I cleaned it up with wipes. We finished the clean-up job at the nearest gas station (which wasn't so near, nor sanitary). We eventually got to the lake. Oh, I failed to mention that in between puke jobs we moved Luke to a different carseat. This second carseat received the last of what remained within poor Luke. Needless to say, we had a lot of cleaning to do upon our arrival (laundry, car, baths). We debated about whether or not we should leave when we got up the next morning. If we were smart we would have - but we weren't. Two other families showed up and by Sunday we had spread the sickness to several members of the family. For those who didn't get sick of the flu, they made themselves sick on food (eating too much of it I mean). Everything was delicious as usual.
We did have fun visiting and playing games with family. Oh! And BYU won!! Woohoo! Bt beyond that, I feel like our presence made mostly everyone miserable. So sorry everyone!
On Monday morning we got all packed up and headed home. I know it sounds crazy, but I swear when we reached almost the exact spot of Luke's "incident" Isabella decided to put her two cents in as well. Puke everywhere!! At least I was driving this time, so Josh cleaned this one up. I'll spare you the details, but I must say he had a MUCH easier job than I did with Luke's. This point in our journey will forever be known as, Puke Point". And so ends our tale of our Labor Day weekend vacation.
Before Labor Day rolled around things were great. Mom and Kimberly (along with RuthAnne and Katlynn) came into town for a few days. We had such a great time with you. Thanks for the storytelling, playing toys with the kids, and going to the waterpark. It would have been much more difficult without you (especially the water park bit). I could have done without that. I had a great time seeing both of you. Thanks for the visit!

Sun Valley water park

Baking with Mama always keeps the tears from flowing - it's my secret weapon (Luke loves mixing with the beaters)

Elizabeth's hair is finally long enough to braid. Hooray!

My sweet little girls.

I love it when Grandma Poyfair plays "toys" with Bella - Huge Help. Thank you!

Bella and Ruthie

Katie-bug prior to a sneeze. She actually had a great time.

Mason blowing out the candles for our family party (celebrating Kimberly and her girls stay here in Texas, Janet, Dad Poyfair, Shawn and Mason's Birthday AND Mom and Dad Poyfair's 40th Wedding Anniversary!)

Shawn took a turn to wrestle and play with several children at our little get-together. They absolutely loved it!

Poor Shawn!

Making cupcakes at the lake with Grandma Poyfair.

Isabella has been a little "obsessed" with the movie, "Annie" lately (It's actually playing in the background behind me at this very moment). While looking at Grandma Poyfair's jewelry Isabella came across this heart locket. She was so happy when Grandma helped "fill" the locket with one-of-a-kind renditions of her loved ones.

This was the Look on Luke's face for most of the weekend. I'll tell you what, sick kids are NO fun.

Isabella was a different story. She was absolutely thrilled to be alive this weekend. Everything was a joy and an adventure. (Thanks to all of her wonderful Aunts, cousins, and Grandparents!)

This is my cousin Diane. She recently married to a wonderful guy (Dan). They both decided to come down to the lake from Arkansas (they're in the same ward as Dane and Christie) for a few hours to watch the BYU game and spend time with us. I haven't seen Diane since we were little tikes . I've always had such a great time with her. I'm so glad that she decided to stop by for a visit.

Our first family picture in what seems like ages!

Summer sum-up

2011-08-10T12:43:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that this is the last week of summer. That's right, starting next week teachers go back to work for LISD. That means I start babysitting kids again. Isabella still has another week to wait before she starts up school again.
She is so excited to be going to school EVERY day instead of only two days a week. I have to say that I am a little excited about it too. I know it's still preschool (only 3 hours a day), but those 3 hours will will help both of us for the better. I feel bad that I can't set her aside and focus on teaching her things. With Luke and Elizabeth in the mix, It's a wonder I have time to teach her anything at all. So, yes, I am very happy for her to start learning again (aside from what I can do for her).
Yesterday we were all upstairs in the playroom and Luke gave me a scare. We were cleaning up the dolls when somehow he slipped and fell (bum first) into the doll bin. Normally this wouldn't have caused a fright, but it was his face smacking into the wooden coffee table on the way down that had me worried. His nose was bleeding and was starting to swell. Also, there was a bruised area underneath his left eye. I thought for sure that he had broken his nose. He wouldn't let me put ice on it, wouldn't let me put him down, Isabella kept asking questions, I was conversing with Josh on the phone about it all the while the baby was screaming her head off !!! Life is so exciting sometimes. Eventually I was able to get Luke to calm down enough for me to put the baby down to sleep. Josh left work a little early to come and help and of course by the time he got home everything was peaceful once again. It's a good thing I like roller coasters because lately it seems that everyday I've been on one!
This summer has been really fun all in all. It's been nice staying home with my kids ONLY! We've been able to get out to the library a couple of times, go to the gym often (which gives the kids some time to play with others), and we even got to go to the lake for a while. Brandon and Sharee were there for a while. I'm glad we were able to spend some extra time with them before the moved back to Utah. We also were able to invite some of our good friends to come down to the lake for a couple of days. Thanks mom and dad! We all had such a great time. I can't wait for our next visit.
I think that pretty much sums up our summer. It's been so hot outside that we've rarely gone outside. There's been a lot of playing with toys, puzzles, playdough, movies, and playing on our favorite website http://lds.org/friend
The kids have been able to swim at some of their friends houses, but that pretty much the only outside playtime they've had.

Oh - Luke's nose is fine by the way. He smashed it pretty good, but it's just a little bruise. You can barely

tell that anything has happened now. Boys.....Sheesh!

Picture Time (watch out, there's quite a few):

Get a load of all of these floatation devices. Isabella has some major water anxieties. Heaven knows why.

Before our hair cut.....and no, I don't have an after picture. You'll just have to imagine Bella with layers and me with hair chopped to my chin.

The only water we could get Bella to go in. All of the kids loved the pool and the best part is....less parent supervision!

Kash just cracks me up in this photo. Josh really got the kids excited - very fun to watch.

This is Bella with her friends the Parma's (Bria and Callie)

The finish product of our cabinet staining project.

Our last day with Kyla and Kash before they moved to Utah. It was such a fun family party. We were sad to leave early, but our kids were going nutzo on us. It was inevitable, we had to leave. We miss you Skeeter and Sharee (kiddos too)!!

Exersaucers are so amazing!! Seriously, I've acquired a couple of baby items with Elizabeth that I don't know how I did without in the past. The other major big help item was and still is the Bjorn carrier by the way.

We had Mike and his boys come over to play games one night. Isabella couldn't make it to the end. Totally out on the couch

Summer Fun, Ward Camp-out, Father's Day and more....

2011-07-07T14:56:00.000-07:00

I don't really know what to make of this summer. It has just begun, but it's the first time that I won't be babysitting any kids (besides my own) since I don't remember when. It's probably been about 4 or 5 years since it's been just me with my own kids. So far.....I love it. It's true that they drive me crazy sometimes, but that's nothing new. I think everyone's kids do that to their parents every now and again right? and it's true that I get asked, "Mom, will you play with me?" more often. I love to play with my kids, but I DON'T love playing with barbie's as much as I did when I was a kid.
Aside from the crazy moments and all of the playing with dolls, I've really enjoyed the freedom of going anywhere I want for as long as I want, not having to be ready to report all of the day's activities to someone (except to Josh of course), sleeping in (sort of...well, not really I guess). I suppose I don't really know what it is. I love the family time, and I love that Josh get's home from work sometimes early, and also get's some time off!
So, the first activity we did this summer was going over to Tucker's house to play with water toys/pool. Tucker is a boy that I have been babysitting since March. It was a fun day and the kids had a great time.

Bella and Luke play in a pool at Tucker's house.

Bella and Libby (Elizabeth's nickname that we're trying out) at Tucker's house.

Tucker's mom, Michelle gave us this really cool slip n' slide. We were so excited to get it all set up and try it out. There were a couple of problems: My backyard slopes to the side, and turning the slip n' slide the other direction made it a tight fit between the cement porch and the wooden gate. So, there wasn't much space to take a running start, and once you reached the end you better had been praying you were going slow because otherwise you would crash into the gate. Another problem: Isabella doesn't do well with water (especially in her face). The poor thing wanted to play so badly. You could see how conflicted she was; Wanting to have fun, yet scared of getting sprayed. Eventually I unhooked the water and played helicopter with the hose, and also made little waterfalls/tunnels, limbo for the kids to run under. they had a lot more fun with just the plain old hose.

Luke and Slip-n'-slide

Luke is a big fan of water. He is squinting because of the sun, but he is actually really enjoying himself.

Isabella is not such a big fan of water. She wants to play and have fun, but the water makes her slightly timid.

After getting water in her eye the show is over. No more slip-n'-slide for Bella. She looks so pitiful. Poor thing.

We went to our ward campout at the end of June. We decided not to stay the night, but came mainly to visit and make smores. Isabella and Luke had such a great time. Bella wanted to cook anything she could find over the fire. Unfortunately everything she cooked wound up having ash and dirt all over it as well. Luke kept trying to get into the lake. We forgot bathing suits, so swimming in the lake was a no-no. Luke didn't understand this and kept trying to get in the water... to no avail. Actually, I lied, he did get in the water once but he didn't make it very far. I only have myself to blame because I showed him where the access to the lake was. What was I thinking?! I obviously wasn't. I'll know better next time I guess.

Bella at Ward camp-out.

Okay, so we actually didn't spend the night. We just took this picture next to someone else's tent. It was a REALLY hot day and so we just went to make smores. We look the part though....right??

Making smores, and silly faces.

Happy Father's Day! Isabella was so excited to give her gift to her dad. This was the first time that we got to hear Isabella sing with the primary. They sang the song, "Father's". It was really sweet. I think Bella was more interested in waving to us than singing. It was so cute, and she did sing during the chorus of the song.

Bella couldn't wait to give daddy his Father's Day gift (a cozy for his soda's).

Happy Father's Day!

I bought these glasses at the dollar store to use as part of my "scientist" costume for singing time in primary. Isabella played "scientist" for the rest of the day when we got home. Too cute!

I am constantly telling this boy to get off his sister! He loves her so much, but needs to work on how to show affection appropriately.

Check out this "crashy hair"!!

A sneak peak at our cabinet remodel. Eventually the whole kitchen will have dark stain on the cabinets.

Happy Birthday Luke!

2011-06-09T19:34:00.000-07:00

Luke is 2 years old today! We went to the store this morning to get some helium balloons. On the way home Luke was crying really hard. I think he was afraid of his balloon?? It wasn't until after we got home and I took it off his wrist that he stopped crying. That's so weird. He hasn't acted like he's scared of them since. What a funny little guy....
This last weekend we all went as a family to help clean mom and dad's rental house in Lake Dallas. Isabella said the cutest thing while we were there. She was helping me clean the mirror in one of the bathrooms when she turned to me and said, "Momma I feel like Jesus is in my heart." Isn't that so cute?! Don't we all feel wonderful when we have an opportunity to serve others? I always know what to do when I'm feeling a little down and not too good about myself. It ALWAYS helps to Help someone else! I still think that that is such a wacky remedy for feeling down and out. Who would have ever thought that by helping others you are actually helping yourself at the same time. What a great deal!
This was the last week of school for us. Last week Isabella had her class party, and yesterday her class had another party. Instead of calling it a "Class party" they decided to call it "Splash Day" (so now it's different?? They can't fool me. I think it's just another excuse to party - fine by me). So, I didn't try Isabella's bathing suit on until we got to school. It was WAY too small. It was a total "hutchie" suit! I think her entire bum cheeks were showing and it kept coming down in the front too! Ahh! How embarrassing. Well, there was nothing I could do. She had been talking about this splash day thing for at least a week or two. So, she was a hutchie at school for one hour. It looked like a lot of fun. They had a kiddie pool, a fun sprinkler hose with minnie hoses attached to it that would flip water around. They also had squirt bottles, bubbles, sidewalk chalk and bikes. They all had such a good time.
This summer is going to be so strange. This will be the first summer where I will not be babysitting anyone. Just my own kids. I don't even know what to do with myself. I don't want to spend a lot of money (none if I can help it) and the only activities I can think of so far is going to the library and the community pool. If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears.
Okay, now brace yourselves, I have a lot of pictures. Here it goes:

Luke, blowing out his candle. I guess I should have put 2 candles in the cupcake, oh well, too late now I guess.

Luke did not appreciate Isabella's help with blowing out the candle.

Tucker was the only one who really even enjoyed the cupcakes. We wound up giving them all to him. This boy can eat, I'll tell you what!

The birthday presents: a firetruck and a pillow pet.

Luke loves his firetruck from Grammy and Papa Poyfair.

A quick snapshot before Grammy and Papa had to leave. Thanks for the visit!

Isabella is so cute. She was trying to make Elizabeth comfortable by sharing her stuffed animals.

Isabella's ready for her last day of school this year.

I had to take a picture of this hairstyle. I really like how it turned out.

This little boy totally soaked me good. I was fine with it at first, but then I started wishing that I had a really big squirt gun thingy of my own to get him all wet too.

Bella's favorite part of splash day - the trikes.

Luke liked the tricycles too.

arriving home after the "balloon pick-up" at the store.

"I do not like this balloon momma. Stop taking pictures and get this thing off already!"

Balloon fright continued.

Uh oh, I guess Bella should remember to put her jewelry away. I hope this doesn't become a habit with Luke....

Oh, here's a better fashion statement. A ripped up puzzle board around the waist and the brush from the kitchen sink. What is this kid thinking?

Luke loves Elizabeth. He snuggles with her a lot. Sometimes a little too much on the "I'm going to squish and suffocate my little sister" side, but still, it's sweet to know he cares.

The very first taste of something other than mommy's milk - yummm, pear.

Having fun while mommy makes hair bows.

Sister snuggle

Aside from her princess bike and scooter, roller skates are "IT". Now, if only she could use them without holding on to something and falling every 5 seconds. She's learning and having a lot of fun with them though.

Guess what time it is?! Time to squish my little sister time!

Bless their little pea pickin' hearts. They're completely unaware that Elizabeth is NOT enjoying herself with their displays of affection.

Elizabeth's first meal - rice cereal. She kept thrusting her tongue out. Needless to say, not much food was successfully ingested.

Bella's Class Party

Luke at Bella's class party

I heard it start to rain outside so I went out to retrieve the boys from their outside play. It's amazing how quickly you can become wet here in Texas. With Tucker's gray shirt you can really tell how wet they got.

Isabella got to stay up late, only long enough for me to put sponge rollers in her hair. This was her first time trying out the sponge rollers. She was so excited.

Normally, Bella's hair goes at least down to her mid-back. This is what it looked like when I took out the rollers in the morning.

And this is what the curls looked like after styling. Way cute, and it lasted all day!

Dogs, Bikes and Thumb Sucking

2011-05-20T07:14:00.000-07:00

Luke has a new place that he loves to play. I have a feeling that playing in the dog kennel is going to be one of those stages in life that all my children will go through. What's the allure? That fabulous dog aroma? The dog hair carpet? Who knows, but Bella and now Luke have at one point in their lives loved the doggie kennels. Go figure. As long as they are safe and having a good time I say more power to them!

So, about a year or two ago Josh and I got a Princess bike for Isabella at a garage sale. She was too young for it at the time. Well, since last summer she has been hounding us about wanting to ride it. The problem was that the bike's chain was off, the tires were flat, the training wheels needed to be put on, and the seat wasn't secured to the bike. Josh kept telling her I'll fix it and have it ready for you after work, or for sure this weekend. This talk continued for about a month or two. Well, on Monday guess what??!? I, the mommy who has never owned her own bike in her entire life, broke out the tools and the air compressor and fixed it MYSELF!! Woohoo! It is now in perfect running order. Isabella enjoys riding it often. Oh - and Uncle Skeeter and Aunt Sharee gave us this wonderful princess scooter which is a big hit with all of the kids (mine and the ones I babysit).

Luke has this funny fascination with the princess bike helmet. I know, it's totally girly and not masculine at all. But, he loves wearing it. I figure I'll let him enjoy it before he figures out about how boys shouldn't be wearing girly stuff like that. He wears it ALL the time!

Uh oh! It looks like we might have a thumb sucker on our hands. Elizabeth is starting to "find" her hands. She loves to suck on them. Recently she has found a favorite finger - the thumb of course. She's having a really bad hair day. You'll have to forgive her. She is just a baby after all. I take all the blame for not fixing her hair properly of course.

Allergic Reaction

2011-05-16T06:30:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth is growing like a weed! She now focuses on her hands. I don't know if she knows they are attached to her yet, but she looks at them now. She also makes coo and raspberry sounds as well as a happy (not quite giggly) sound when I tickle her neck. Another thing - I now have to be careful where I place her because she can also roll on her side and push herself up so that her chest is lifted off the ground. I just can't believe how fast she is growing. How can she already be 3 months old? Time has just flown by.

Luke has had a bit of bad luck this weekend. On Saturday morning Josh and I noticed that he had a little bubble of fluid on his left ear. Hmmm, that's weird. We decided it was probably nothing and continued on with our day. We went over to my brother Brandon's house. When we arrived I took the kids out in the backyard to play. That's when I noticed that there was definitely something wrong with Luke's ear. It was not only a bubbly ear, but a bubbly, red and swollen ear. I got a little nervous because the bubbly part of his ear reminded me of one of the signs of a brown recluse spider bite.
We decided to take him to Care Now to have them took a look at it. Well, it turns out that Luke was bitten by some kind of bug, just not a brown recluse. The doctor informed me that if it had been a brown recluse spider that had bitten him, there would have been a blackish brownish color to the bubble. I felt like an idiot because once she said it, I could remember the picture in my health book showing exactly what a brown recluse spider bite looked like. So anyway, Luke was having an allergic reaction to the bite. I was prescribed some cream to put on his ear along with some Benedril. He's doing much better now. I wish I would have taken a photo of his ear earlier, because this photo doesn't do it justice. This photo is after an entire day of treatment. I swear he looked like the elephant man before the doctors visit.

Bad Ear

Good Ear

Trouble with Luke

2011-05-02T10:53:00.000-07:00

I should have waited to watch my Celebrity Apprentice recording until nap, but I didn't. I watched it in my room and had a great time doing so. It wasn't until it was over and I began the decent down the stairs that I knew that something was wrong. Something in the air smelled awful. What could it be? Did one of the dogs throw up? What is that white stuff on the stairs? Nope, not throw-up. Hmm... I guess I'll follow the trail. The trail took me to the kitchen. This is what I found. Lots and LOTS of Parmesan cheese ALL OVER!!

When catastrophes such as this occur I always try to think, "What would Christie do?" (Christie is my sister-law). She's so sweet and loving. I was not feeling like being sweet or loving at the moment. Then, it hit me. Christie would take a picture! So I did, and do you know what? It did help. It gave me a little extra time to calm down and put my emotions in check. So here's the damage:

While cleaning up Luke's cheese mess, he was able to get himself into more trouble. I separated the hard floor attachment from the vacuum so that I could vacuum the carpet. I set the attachment to the side and almost immediately Luke reached for it. Ah,ah,ah, no you don't. I snatched it away and as I did Elizabeth (whom I was carrying in the baby bjorn) smacked her head into the corner of the wall. Poor thing. She's okay now, but it wasn't pretty, and she didn't like it one bit.

So, I finally finished cleaning everything. I look over at Luke and he has the dog toothbrush in his mouth! EUWW, YUCK, DISGUSTING! I immediately retrieved it from his mouth and went to put it away. As I was putting it away I could hear him fiddling around in the bathroom. I hurried and pulled him out before he had a chance to make a mess with water (which he also likes to do a lot). Why does he have to know how to open doors? I would just put a child's lock on the bathroom, but then I would constantly be having to open the bathroom door for the other kids I watch. Lets face it, I'm lazy. So, I deal with water messes occasionally instead.
After pulling Luke out of the bathroom he immediately starts tearing the back cushion off of our gliding chair. I grabbed his hand and moved him away from the chair. Well, I guess I "moved" him a little too forcefully because he fell back and hit his head on the base board of the wall. Now I have baby and Luke crying. Ahh!! I'm going insane and it's still 20 minutes before our designated nap time. You know what? I say, "Hooey" to designated nap times for the day! So with that, both Luke and Tucker were sent to bed.
I finally have some semblance of peace....sigh

Easter catch-up

2011-05-01T15:53:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I totally forgot to take picture's of the kids in their new Easter clothes. I remembered right after everyone had changed into casual clothes after church. I was tuckered out and I don't think there was any way I was going to make everyone change back into their nice church clothes for picture taking. So, I took some pictures today.

In this picture you can see that everyone is reverently folding their arms. This is the best we could do with no wiggling and no funny business.

One of my friends from church took these pictures of Elizabeth. I especially like, "the bum" picture.

I wish I had taken a picture of Luke the other day. He was trying to do a handstand up against the wall. Jordan, the little girl I babysit wanted me to watch her do one. I did and said, "Cool." After she finished Luke immediately went up to the wall and attempted to walk his feet backward up the wall (which he failed to do). Once the attempt was complete he looked up and said, "cool". Too funny. I just wish I had a picture to solidify the memory. Well, I guess I just did that with this blog huh?

Day at the Park

2011-04-30T15:42:00.000-07:00

So Isabella has really been into the movie, "The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lava Girl." She wanted me to fix her hair like Sharkboy. Uh, okay. His hair is like 1-2 inches long and is all spiky. So I did this instead. She was upset at first. She really wanted it to be spiky. After I told her that it was a shark fin on the top of her head she was much happier.

Luke wanted me to take a picture of him too.

Today there was a BBQ at a park close by our house. As soon as we put Luke down he was off like a rocket toward the playground. Unfortunately, so were his pants. Fortunately, his shorts have an adjustable waist. It was fixed lickety split. It's a good thing he's just a little boy, how embarrassing would that be if he were a big kid.

Daddy just couldn't give us a normal smile.

Isabella took this picture of Elizabeth and me. I'm surprised she didn't cut my head off or anything.

Tummy time for Elizabeth.

Bella tuckered out after the BBQ.

Crazy Morning!!

2011-04-28T07:26:00.000-07:00

The following is an email I sent to Josh regarding the cinnamon rolls that I'm bringing to his work today...

Luke got into the refrigerator while I was giving Elizabeth a bath. Isabella came up and said, "Sharkboy spilled eggs". What?!? I ran downstairs and sure enough, there were about 6 eggs that were a mess all over the floor. There were 3 semi-cracked eggs besides the 6 that I was able to save. Luke had egg on his clothes too. At least It wasn't bad enough that he needed another bath. I was able to change his clothes all the while the baby is screaming her head off naked on our bed. Luckily, by the time I got back to her she hadn't peed or pooped. I got her dressed, plopped her in the bjorn and was able to fix, Luke, Isabella's and her hair. I look like like crap, but at least my kids are cute right??
Anyhow....
These cinnamon rolls are NOT going to be ready in time. They've been rising since 7:30. It's 9:15 now and I'm not seeing much of a difference. I think I'll have to drop them off at pick-up time instead. I hope that's okay. I'm really disappointed. I should've made the dough last night. Sorry.

Okay... things are better now.

Easter

2011-04-27T08:19:00.000-07:00

Easter is now over. Isabella sure is growing up. Last year she did not know much about the Easter Bunny. This year, however, the Easter Bunny was remembered from last year. She was very excited. For some reason whenever she gets REALLY excited about a holiday I always feel the need to question her on what each particular holiday is really all about. Does anyone else feel that need?
After church we had the opportunity to spend time with family in Fort Worth. We got to meet Carmella for the first time. She is only one week old and is absolutely ADORABLE! Hey, I didn't even get to hold her. I forgot to ask. Shawn got a chance to, and he is so sweet with the new little babies.
Now that Easter is over, I guess it's time to gear up for Memorial Day. We're really excited because EVERYONE will be able to be together. It can be a little hectic at times because there is A LOT of us. There's not a whole lot of personal space or privacy, but I'll tell you what, "I LOVE IT!!" The cousins have so much fun together and I absolutely positively love spending time with my family. Everyone is so fun, talented and fabulous! I love learning from everyone. I have the coolest sisters-in-law's EVER! They know how to do and make everything. I love to learn from them. Oh, and the games, the GAMES! Food, games, Great conversation, great company. Could I even be more blessed?!? There are so many dysfunctional families out there. I'm so glad to be a part of a family that is friendly and positive and loves each other very much. Thank you all for serving and loving me and my family. You are totally awesome!!!

April Showers bring May Flowers

2011-04-15T09:00:00.000-07:00

We had a huge rain/hail storm last night.I'm a pretty heavy sleeper. I'm surprised it woke me up.Not to worry, I was back to sleep in a jiff. I did, however, find my 4 year old in bed with me when I woke up this morning. I didn't even notice that she had come in either. I'm going to have to improve on that soon before she becomes a teenager.
My friend Michiyo Clark took this picture of Isabella at the park.

My friend Lani Taumoli took this picture of Elizabeth.

After a long day of work Josh gets to snuggle with Elizabeth.

Close up of snuggle time with daddy.

Assume the usual position for the day.

When Luke can't play outside he gets sad.

Luke's new favorite place to play.

Fun Easter hair.

a Visit, a Birthday, and a Blessing

2011-04-01T05:37:00.000-07:00

This has been quite an eventful month. Grandma and Grandpa Draper were able to come and visit for a week. We had a great time. I appreciated the extra help with the kids, cooking, and am loving our new cabinet that Josh and dad put together. It took them the whole week to build it. They worked so hard and I am so grateful. Bless their little pea pickin' hearts.
The Saturday after their arrival we had a birthday party for Isabella at Kids Kastle Park. It was fun playing on the playground, feeding the ducks, and making puppets (which kept blowing away because of the wind). I think the biggest hit by far was the SpongeBob pinata. I'm so cheap I couldn't bear purchasing a pinata from the store (they're like $20 or something). So, I made my own...out of a cheerio box. It looked great, but took forever to break. Quite a sturdy box let me tell you. We had to perform 3 surgeries on SpongeBob before he finally relented. Overall the party was a great success. Oh, can I just say that I LOVE Costco cake! Who knew those things were so yummy!?!
On Sunday we had Elizabeth's baby blessing. I am so happy to have a great friend like Marie Ford, who, with every baby blessing, writes down what was said and gives me a copy. Thank you! It was so nice to also have many family members there as well. It was fantastic to see everyone and enjoy a yummy meal afterward. Elizabeth received a few unexpected gifts from her Aunts. Janet made her super cute hats, and a sweet little tag blanket. Sara gave her a precious outfit and made a pair of adorable shoes. (Sara, thank you for Bella's new outfit too, she loves it). I have such talented sisters!
.....Luke's hair has been having some issues for which I take the blame entirely. His hair was actually not that bad (as you can see from the photo of him and Bella on the stairway). It's getting close to summer, so I thought that I would try something hip and fun. The Faux hawk is "In" so I thought I'd give it a go. I cut his hair into the trendy "do". It was cute for like a minute. I kept it for a couple of days to see if it would grow on me. Nope! I still didn't like it. So now he's buzzed. I don't like the buzz cut either (neither does Luke by the look he has in the photo). It's a good thing hair grows back right? Right! I don't know, maybe I should've kept the Faux. Too late now. I can worry about that later I guess.
Lastly, we had a surprise visit from Grandpa Poyfair who happened to be in town. I always love those visits. Love you daddy!
Well, that puts an end to our very eventful month of March.

Elizabeth Adele Draper

2011-03-08T13:11:00.000-08:00

We have had such a busy winter and springtime this year. I feel bad for slacking on my blogging duties...
Well, I guess I"ll start with Christmas. From what I can remember it was fabulous!! I think the kids got too many presents, but I can't blame Santa for that one. I remember spending a lot of time in the kitchen. I swear I must have made 100 pounds of candy. My thighs are paying the price for it too. This year all of the Poyfair side of the family was able to spend time together. We had a great service project where we got to help a family in need.It's nice knowing that we were able to help out. If we had not, they most likely wouldn't have been able to have a Christmas. I wish I could say more about Christmas. It was a few months ago, so I'm having difficulty remembering particulars. I just remember an overall feeling of love for family and friends and sharing good times together. Thank you everyone who were a part of making the holiday season a good one for me and my family.

Elizabeth Adele:
I am so pleased to have a new baby girl. I forget how wonderful it is to hold and snuggle a new little baby. She is so sweet. I'm about to tell the labor and delivery story, so for all of you men out there who would rather not know, you can skip the next paragraph or two....
The roads were very icy and it was snowing outside. We dropped off Isabella and Luke with Brandon and Sharee the night before, so all we had to do was get up and go straight to the hospital. After getting induced into labor the nurse came in and was repeatedly adjusting the heart monitor that was strapped to my abdomen. Later we found out that the monitor was broken. I was having a lot of pain (you ladies who have done this before know what I mean). Anyway, it seemed like Josh and I were the only ones aware of this. Well,we were the only ones aware because the broken monitor wasn't showing the nurse that I was having contractions at all. Things went much better after fixing the monitor and getting an epidural. Epidurals are miracles from heaven. I always forget how wonderful they are until after I've had one administered. One moment you're crying because of the pain and the next, you're crying tears of gratitude.
at about 2pm my doctor showed up and said that I was ready, but that he had to run upstairs real quick to check up on another patient and would be back in about 15-20 minutes. Well, 45 minutes passed and no doctor showed up. The nurse came in to check the monitor for the baby again. Guess why? They were unable to get a reading for the baby's heart beat. The nurse checked my progress and her eyes went wide as she ran out of the room to get help. I laughed at her response. As I laughed I felt a really "funny" sensation down there (hard to know exactly with an epidural. I looked under my blanket and Elizabeth's head was completely out! At that point Josh and I started yelling, "The baby's out, the baby's out!!" I started laughing some more while an entourage of people entered the room. By this time, Elizabeth's shoulders were out. A doctor (not mine) started putting on gloves as she said, "give me one more laugh". I kept laughing and Elizabeth came right on out. Don't worry, my doctor showed up for all the clean-up work.

Summer Sum-up

2010-09-28T12:44:00.000-07:00

We started out this summer with a bang. Luke had his First birthday on June 9th. We decided it would be easier (and cheaper) to keep it to a small family party. He had a Basketball court cake that we all ate and a his own personal basketball cake to mees himself up with. We made birthday hats and had a great time. It was also great that Grandma & Grandpa Draper could be in town for the festivities.
It is always fun to have them come for a visit because I get great company AND my house gets renovated! Woohoo! It was especially nice to have company while Josh was at work during the day. I get lonesome sometimes and their visit was the perfect remedy. I absolutely LOVED how this summer's project turned out. The big project taken on was (drum roll please)...,"Painting the downstairs." Goodbye burnt orange and kelly green, hello neutral! I also now have a chocolate brown accented fireplace wall!! Hooray. I feel so calm and peaceful in my home now instead of constantly feeling stimulated with bold colors. Don't get me wrong, I love color, but I usually prefer color in my accessories.
Toward the end of the summer our family took our first road trip to Utah. We stayed for 2 weeks. It was fun for us and the kids to touch base with everyone there. No one in Utah had seen Luke since he was born. This was the perfect opportunity for the kids to meet and reacquaint themselves with the family.
When I asked Isabella what her favorite part of the trip was she said, "The pinata at the family reunion, and Grandpa's swings." It's true. She really did LOVE that clown pinata and both of the kids couldn't get enough of Grandpa's swing set (how big is that thing, like 20 feet high??). They also enjoyed feeding the horses, watching humming birds and playing on the "Up & Down" chair at great grandma's house. It was a great visit. Oh, and Kyle...Thank you for pushing the kids almost non-stop on those swings!! You are fabulous!! I wanted to also thank Jody and Michelle for the clothes. It makes life a whole lot easier (and cheaper) because of you!
Since returning home Josh has been released as ward mission leader. He is now the gospel doctrine teacher. He also started his new job this week working as the new Assistant Principal at Old Settlers Elementary School in Flower Mound. Josh has worked so hard. I am so proud of him. We are so happy and so blessed.
Speaking of blessings, did I mention that we will be welcoming a new baby GIRL to our family? Our new arrival is expected at the beginning of February! We've decided on the name,"Elizabeth Adele". We are anxious to meet her. Isabella is too. She is constantly walking around the house with a baby doll stuffed under her shirt. She even has me feel her tummy when her baby kicks! Too cute.
Another cute thing Isabella did recently was writing a Christmas list to Santa during sacrament meeting. It was unusually quiet (this usually means that she's up to no good). Well, I looked over to find her scribbling away on a notepad saying,"I want strawberry shortcake for Christmas". This phrase was repeated several times. I think she scribbled out 5 or 6 pages to Santa by the time she moved on to some other activity. I suppose I should have to remember this "strawberry shortcake" thing within the next couple of months.
Luke loves balls and cars. He recently has started to dance too. His favorite song right now is the song from the cat in the hat tv show where their is talk of going on an adventure with the cat in the hat and his thing-a-mi-jigger. He also has taken up an interest in dogs and will walk around the house panting like one.
My kids are so great. It's fun to watch them grow and experience the ups of life. I can do without the "downs" thank you very much.

Surprise!!

2010-06-03T10:59:00.000-07:00

Isabella woke us up at 3:45 this morning. Shortly after putting her back to bed I found out from those nifty dollar store tests that we will be expecting our 3rd child in February. Surprise!! We are all so excited. Isabella wants a baby sister. I guess we'll have to wait a little while longer to answer that one. I'm so gald that it's getting nice outside. The kids have been getting so anxious. It's been so stormy recently that they've all been cooped up inside the house. Now I can open the back door and let them out to be as loud as they want and play to their little hearts content. I'm excited fo the city pools to open up. That will make the nice weather that quickly turns into unbearable heat, much more enjoyable.
Speaking of fine weather, we just got back from a wonderful Memorial Day weekend down at the lake. It was so fun to see everyone again. My favorte part was going on the boat with Isabella and swimming in the lake with Josh and Luke. A close second would be the night when all of us siblings (and Josh) sat down and played a good ol' game of D&D together. What a great time we had.

Luke plays chase:

Follow the Prophet:

Baptism song:

Football with daddy

Uncle Dane does a trick:

Master's Degree

2010-05-05T16:25:00.000-07:00

This last weekend was an eventful one. On Saturday, May 1, 2010 Josh Graduated with his Master's in Education from Concordia University!! Hooray! His classes don't actually end until the end of July, but lets face it, he's pretty much done. It definitely was a struggle for all of us to get through. It's really such a relief to know that it's over....finally! I recommend to anyone considering to go for a master's degree to do it when your kids are young. This way they won't remember how busy daddy was. I'm so happy to be able to spend more time with him. On Saturday we left our home in Lewisville at 6am to make the 4 hour drive to Austin Texas. Isabella called it our "Big Adventure". She loved being able to watch movies in the car (we save the dvd player for long journeys such as this). She also loved that mommy and daddy forgot to pack toys for her to play with during the graduation cerimony. When we got into town we made a stop at target and got a 7-pack of disney princess figures. We then had a little lunch and headed over to the graduation. Unfortunately, upon parking and unloading the kids from the car I accidentally bumped "Ariel". She fell out of the car and into a nearby rain gutter. If anyone knows how it rains in Texas, then you'll know of the monstrous rain gutters to which I am refering. Poor Ariel... I guess she went back to live "under the sea" after all. Suprisingly, Isabella took it extremely well. I mean, she did still have 6 other toys right? We all got changed, snapped a few pictures, and then entered the auditorium (of a church I can't remember the name of). The kids behaved as well as can be expected for young children during a 1 1/2 hour long event. We were glad when we got home. It had been a very long day. The next day at church I let Isabella play with my jewelry (as I sometimes do). We usually sit in the center of the chapel, but today we sat on one of the side sections...next to the floor vents. Yep, you guessed it. My wedding band fell down the vent. I thought I did a very good job of not doing some serious bodily harm or verbally lashing out at anyone. My heart sank, and I just had to hope that there might be someway to get it back. After sacrament meeting I tore up the vent cover in serach of my prized possession - to no avail. The ring had slid down the chute of the vent and was gone. We reported the loss to the bishop and he said he'd inform the maintenance guys to keep and eye out for it...sigh... Josh called me on Monday with the best news ever. The bishop had found my ring! Hooray!! What a great ending huh? I'm wearing it right now and I don't think I'll be letting Isabella play with my jewelry anytime here in the near future.

Luke Dances:

Show me that smile!

Easter 2010

2010-04-13T13:12:00.000-07:00

I find myself getting more excited for each holiday that comes. Isabella is now 3 years old and is starting to enjoy the holidays in a "magical" sort of way. Even though Halloween, Christmas and Easter are over she still makes comments like:

"Mommy, I'm scared of pumpkins... jack-o-lanterns." (followed by a recounting of what happened when she went trick-or-treating).

"Mommy, did you see that?? I think I just saw Santa's sleigh."

"I'm a nice/good girl. The Easter Bunny will be happy."

It's so fun to hear her talk about it all.

So, a funny thing happened with Isabella this last week. Well, actually it wasn't funny when it happened. She was taking a little longer finishing up her dinner so Josh and I got up from the table and went about other things. Shortly after we left the table Bella came over crying and covering her face with her hands. I took her hands away and didn't notice anything except a watery eye. I assumed that she had poked it or something. It also happened to be her left eye. She had a clogged tear duct when she was born and also has allergies. So, it was not uncommon to see that particular eye get watery. Her crying seemed to be escalating and becoming more frantic. What on earth?? What could be wrong with this child? Through her tears and hysteria she managed to communicate that she had a piece of corn up her nose!! Josh and I looked at each other and thought, "Oh, crap! This is going to be one expensive trip to the emergancy room. All of that money for a stinking lousy piece of corn." We tried massaging it out... nothing, sneezing/blowing it out... nothing, we even tried holding her down and going at it with tweezers (yeah, that didn't happen either). I massaged it one more time and tried to coach her on how to properly "blow out" through your nose. She just couldn't figure out how to blow out. She kept sniffing in. Just when I had about given up hope she miraculously blew out through her nose (in between sniffs). The corn popped out!! Oh, but wait, she sniffed it back in! I quickly prevented her from sticking her finger up her nose and began massaging her nose from the top down. The corn slipped out very quickly after that. "Phew"...I'm glad that's over.

Luke is cruising pretty well around furniture and various objects. I believe he will most likely be walking within a month. His latest interest has been to have mommy or daddy (mostly daddy) chase him around the house in his walker. He's fairly quick in that thing. He will giggle and laugh to no end if someone will give him chase. It's pretty darn cute and entertaining to watch. He also has shown some interest in a toy microphone we have (the plastic one with the metal coil inside). He will pick it up and loudly make, "Ah!" sounds into it. That's fun to see too.

Josh is getting senioritis. He is only a couple short months from graduating with his master's degree in administration. He walks on May 1st and he can't HARDLY wait!! Me neither. As for me, nothing much has changed.

I'm still plugging away watching kids. Oh - and I did take part in a small talent show for relief society. A few girls and I did a "nerd herd" version of nsync's, "Bye bye bye." (you can see it on facebook if you want). Other than that, not much else. We hope everyone is doing well. See you around for the next post!

Luke crawls & stands by couch:

What Easter is all about:

Easter egg hunt with cousins:

Luke takes the mic:

Isabella is 3 Years Old!!

2010-03-14T18:39:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that my little girl is already 3 years old. Time has passed so quickly. We have just finished our birthday extravaganza weekend. On Friday we had some of her cousins come over to have a pajama party and spend the night. On Saturday we had her friends over for a party, and Sunday we brought goodies to church to celebrate with her nursery class. It was so much fun, but I'm glad it's over. This was my first official kid party that I've done and I have to say that it's a lot of work. I think I might size it down for next year. We'll see. It seems that whenever a big project comes along I say, I'll never do anything like that again." As time passes I tend to want to get wrapped up in the similar activities that I said I wouldn't do again. I don't know, we'll see how I feel in a year I guess.
Isabella has had such a fun time. She gets super excited and runs around the house making "lalalalala" sounds and singing jingle bells and other Christmas songs. This is what she does when she gets excited. Isabella loves Tinker Bell, Spaghetti, twirling in dresses, playing with dolls (barbie and polly pocket-type dolls). She is also into playing doctor. She always wants people to take medicine and receive a blessing. It's cute watching her play by herself and with her friends. I love listening in on kid conversations. It's refreshing and fun. Life is so full of magic when you're young! I catch glimpses of that magic as I watch children experience life. There is nothing like being a parent. Sure, there it's a lot of hard work. Sometimes I want to pull my hair out and scream! But I have to say, that the rewards of parenthood out way the challenges by FAR. I love my children. They are so fun....I want more!Ha!
Luke turned 9 months old on the 9th of March. He is SO happy all the time. I love to hear him laugh. Consequently, I find myself trying everything in the book to make him laugh. some of my tactics range from tickling to peek-a-boo to dancing, to just about anything to get a laugh out of him. Lucky for me, I don't have to try very hard. He's very willing to oblige me with a giggle. He doesn't have any teeth yet, but is cruising around the furniture and can stand for a few seconds on his own. Pretty soon we'll have a walker on our hands. Isabella started walking at the end of 8 months. I'm grateful that Luke is a late bloomer. It saves me a lot of running around.
Josh has been having a lot of pain for a couple of months now. We didn't know exactly what was causing his pain or where it was stemming from. All we knew was that it was painful for him to walk, sit, run sleep, you name it. He's been to chiropractors and they don't seem to be helping. I finally scheduled a doctor's appointment for him. On the day of the appointment his doctor scheduled an emergency MRI for that same day. As it turns out, Josh has a herniated disc that is pinching a nerve. This is causing him to have no functioning control over his left leg. Scary huh? He has been given pain killers and some oral cortisone. This Friday he is scheduled for back surgery. We are all hoping that this surgery will finally fix the problems he has been having. I wanted to thank everyone for being so helpful and supportive to Josh and our whole family. We appreciate your prayers and concern for his well being.
Nothings new with me. I am still the Laurels advisor in our ward and I still babysit kids during the day. Life is so full of ups and downs. I like it that way. Otherwise it would be really boring right? Well, Thanks for reading and I'll keep you all posted.....when I eventually get around to another blog post. Sorry, I know I don't post as often as I should. I kind of have a love-hate relationship with my blog. Bye for now.....

Happy Birthday Phone Call From Grandma & Grandpa Draper:

Grandma & Papa Poyfair's Birthday Card:

Happy Birthday Cake:

Opening Gift From Grandma & Grandpa Draper:

Monster Blog Post!

2010-02-21T14:37:00.000-08:00

I know I've been needing to make a post. Sorry for the delay..... Everyone is doing great for the most part. We had a great Christmas and are starting the new year off well. Luke started to crawl on his 8 month birthday. He now pulls himself up to his knees on pretty much anything he can find. He still loves to smile, and is beginning to be quite vocal. Isabella is obsessed with blowing kisses, high fives, and Valentine's Day. She had a lot of fun making cookies for and with her friends (the kids that I babysit). Now that it's over if she hears anyone say, "I love you" She will respond by saying, "I love you too..Happy Valentine's Day." Whenever I blow her a kiss she pretends to grab my kiss out of the air and eat it. She thinks it's hilarious. Who eats kisses? really? No one does, so it must be funny right? She is so much fun. Oh, and she can't WAIT until her Birthday party coming up next month. I love my kids! This year we received some snow!! This doesn't happen very often in Texas, let alone record breaking snow levels. It really wasn't that much, but it was enough to have a few snowball fights, make snow angels and a snow man. It all melted away within a few days. We had such a good time in it. I have a lot of pictures to share and I don't want to make this post too miserably long, so I'll stop writing now. Enjoy the slideshow!!

2009-12-20T16:34:00.000-08:00

Make a Smilebox collage

2009-11-01T11:52:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween! Isabella finally "got" Halloween this year. She was smiley, and really enjoyed herself out there. She made several attempts to walk into other people's houses. She got into a few too. I had to go in and drag her out apologizing as I did so. She also kept theiving candy! At EVERY house she would grab for more than the one piece she was offered. I think she got 4 pieces of candy at a few houses. I was kind of embarrassed. Every time I tried to berate her, the people at the door would just laugh and say, "It's okay, she's so cute". I still think she needs to learn her manners. Maybe next year we'll be more successful in that area. Carving pumpkins for Family Home Evening with Jessica and her boys Aaron and Andrew. The kids I babysit. Will, Jackson, and Jordan all wanted to hold Luke on the couch with Isabella. Sometimes Luke has a frustrating time when he's on his tummy. Isabella noticed his frustration and went over to comfort him. What an awesome big sister! Cousin Josh's Baptism. We always have such a good time visitng Dane, Christie and the rest of the family in Arkansas. Isabella can't wait until she can be baptized too. Luke is looking spiffy after his FIRST haircut ever. I was so sad after I cut it. All of his beautiful curls were gone. I was left with wavy hair instead. I'm hoping that the curls will return soon. The Three Amigos.....starring: Kian, Kash, and Luke. Kash is a month yonger than Luke. Can you believe how big he is?! They're the same size. Wow! Luke loves interacting with others. He always has. I love this about him. He is so smiley and happy. He was just Loving this particular session of tummy time. Luke attempts to roll onto his tummy. He also does a bit of talking.

Isabella sings, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".

2009-08-23T14:37:00.000-07:00

This little guy is always so smiley. I love how he enjoys interacting with others. He is such a gift! After a while it was pretty much impossible to get Isabella to look at the camera. she is so full of energy! Josh and I are so blessed to have the children that we have. There is never a dull moment, and most of the time (aside from moments of frustration that those with chilren can only understand) we love and enjoy each other tremenendously.

We were so happy that mom and dad Draper were able to be in town for Luke's blessing. It was such a special day. It was so nice to share this day with all of our loved ones.

Mom and Dad Draper were such a help to me. It was nice to have them around to talk to while Josh was at work, not to mention the help with potty training Isabella. We had such a good time. Dad also took on big projects that we had been meaning to get to. Just to mention a few: Staining our backyard fence, cleaning out and organizing our garage, constructing the inside of Josh's work shed, helping me program the garage remote, etc, etc. You get the point. Dad pretty much worked the entire time he was here. Nice vacation huh? Thanks dad!!
Mom helped me out so much with the kids, fixing meals, and doing house work. It was nice to be able to take breaks/naps to recharge. It was more than nice actually. I know mom and dad came here for a vacation, but it seems like I was the one on vacation. You guys are the best. We were fortunate enough to get pictures with both sets of Grandparents and the kids. We must have taken 9 different photos on this couch. We wanted to make sure that every grandparent had a photo opportunity with each of their grandchildren. They were really good sports with my picture taking frenzy. The 4th of July at the Lake. Grandma and Grandpa Poyfair made things so fun for all who came to partake in the festivities. As always there was yummy food, plenty of fireworks, boating, and a trip to the movies. I didn't go to the movie, but I heard that all of the kids absolutely loved "Ice Age 3". Thanks mom and dad Poyfair!! We always have such a good time when we come and we know that you put a lot of hard work into making sure we all have an enjoyable time. At this point in time Isabella had a fasination with the moon. Here she points at it. I liked taking this picture on the 4th of July because I could pretend that she was pointing out a particularly extravagant firework display. She loved the fireworks and I heard about them for days afterward.

Life has been so full of pleasures these last few months. We are so happy and blessed to be a part of the Poyfair and Draper families. We love you guys!!

4th of July 2009

Chicken Dance

Bella's a Bunny

Baby Luke is Here!!

2009-06-23T10:26:00.000-07:00

Luke Grandon Draper is finally here!! Everything went well at the hospital. My doctor
(Owen's) and his staff (Julie, Bobby, Heather) were great in helping me with the entire pregnancy experience. Luke is a healthy and happy baby.
He was born on June 9th, 2009 weighing 9.7 ounces (ouch) and was 21.5 inches long. A BIG Boy!! He has a very sweet disposition. Mom and dad love snuggling with him and Isabella loves being a big sister. She takes care of him and helps feed, hug, kiss, hold and all other types of good big sister stuff.

Together at the hospital.
Mommy is getting ready for the big arrival.
Yeah! Luke is here!Mom and Luke's first moments together.Dad and Izzy get their turn to hold Luke.Isabella displays her sisterly love for her little brother.Luke's first bath at home.Luke's first Sunday. Doesn't he look snazzy in his little tie?!Isn't that the most precious baby boy? He is so cute!! The greatest Doctor in all the land. Doctor David M. Owen's The staff: Julie, Bobby and Heather. They are such a nice group of girls...and helpful too.I know you all couldn't resist a close-up shot. Well, I couldn't.Daddy and Bella are so happy that Luke is here!Bella, once again showing off her big sister skills. She's a pro at helping mommy and daddy feed Luke.Grandma and Grandpa Poyfair come and share an evening with Luke and the family. It was so fun to have them over.

Luke's 1st bath.

Happy Birthday!

2009-03-28T17:18:00.000-07:00

Isabella turned 2 years old on March 14th!! I can't believe how fast she is growing. I was able to school her a couple of days before hand to answer the,"How old are you" question. She answers, "2" and attempts to hold up the appropriate number of fingers (we're still working on that one).

We had a fun barbeque where Uncle Skeeter (Brandon), Aunt Sharee, and cousin Kyla were able to join in on the fun. We watched some old home videos, ate, opened presents, and played with bubbles.

We had a surprise showing from Uncle Jason later in the day. He sang happy birthday to her which she absolutely loved. I think it's her favorite song now.

Woohoo! Bubbles!!

Uncle Skeeter really got Izzy excited while she was eating her cake. I think she actually played with the cake more than eating it.

Bella just loves the sidewalk chalk that she got from her cousin Kyla. She plays with it almost everyday. It's fun to hear her try and say "chalk". It sounds like, "Cauch."

Isabella shows off her new dress that she received from Grandma and Grandpa Draper.

Izzy loves her bathing suit. It's too bad the community pools aren't open yet because she is ready to hit the pool scene big time.

Bella's new car. It makes her very happy. Sometimes she packs up her baby dolls and takes them for rides.

I've got to say that balloons are great. They are so inexpensive and provide so much entertainment. Isabella tries to carry as many as she can around with her. Balloons are also great as a learning tool. You can play catch with them and also TRY to learn how to SHARE with them. We're still kind of working on the idea of sharing.

Fun Videos:

catching up...

2009-01-19T10:16:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2008: White elephant gift exchange at Brandon and Sharee's house. We all had a great time stealing gifts away from each other. That evening we also enjoyed great food, caroling, and a call from Santa. To finish off the evening we read from Luke the story of Christ's birth.

Christmas caroling with the Poyfair's. Although this event was slightly unorganized, we had a lot of fun. Maybe next year, we can have lyrics for everyone to cheat off of, or at least narrow done the song selections. Caroling that night together was quite funny because we all bustled out the door without a plan. As someone knocked on a door we tried to have a quick vote as to what song we should sing. More often than not, there were only a few who knew the correct words to sing. Oh well, it's the thought that counts right?

Our ward had a Christmas party with the theme, "Polar Express". All of the kids came in pajamas. There were lots of sweets to enjoy as we all enjoyed the reenactment of the story. At the end of the evening we had a volunteer Santa take pictures with the children. It was like waiting in line for a theme park ride to get to him, but now that we have the picture, I can say that the wait was worth it.

Playing games at Jason and Sara's house with the rest of the family during Thanksgiving.

There were lots of people there for the Thanksgiving feast. This is the biggest group picture I could get during the day.

After Christmas in the Fort Woth area we headed down to East Texas (to my parents lake house). Here Izzy is hanging out with Lulu and D-O-G.

Grandma Poyfair and Bella playing together.

All the family got together for a day of service during the holidays. It was really nice to feel the spirit as we gave of our time and efforts to help others. In this picture, we are sporting the hats that Isabella's Great Grandma Ruth made for us. We love them!

Below are some cute videos of Bella that we wanted to share.

2008-12-03T12:08:00.000-08:00

Isabella was a witch for Halloween. She was so cute. She was able to get her "cackle" down for the big event.

Trick-or-Treat! We started at 5:30 or 6pm and didn't get finished until 2 hours later. The funny part is that we only went on one street. It took forever. Bella, loved going up to the door and holding on to her Jack-O- Lantern bucket. She had a vice-like grip on that thing. What can I say, she loves her candy!

Usually on Josh's birthday I throw a "How to host a murder" party. This year he requested a D&D party. We had a lot of fun. We played for 10 hours. Woohoo!! And me being the big genius that I am, only remembered to take a picture of the food table. Sorry folks, the guests of this party will remain a mystery.

I'm not exactly sure where we were off to in this photo. I just thought it was a cute one of Izzy. She is beginning to catch on to the phrase, "Cheese" when a camera is pulled out for some picture taking action.

Bella and Daddy sharing some time together. They always have such a good time with each other.

Isabella is starting the whole potty training phase of life - Hooray! Well, I guess I shouldn't say "hooray" until the training is complete. She loves to do the pee-pee in the potty dance when she is successful. It's great fun to see her get so excited about it all.

Twilight the movie is here!! A bunch of girls got together for the midnight opening show. We had such a blast. I recommend this movie to anyone who enjoyed the books. If you didn't enjoy the books, then this is NOT the movie for you. It's a good thing I was surrounded by tons of fans. It made the movie going experience all I had hoped it would be. What a fun night!!

2008-10-01T19:25:00.000-07:00

Can I just say that I love watching children?? Sometimes it’s hard to remember to smile and have fun. I love to have constant reminders that life is full of magic, and wonder. If only everyone in the world could understand the joy that come by being present in the life of a child. I am indeed thoroughly blessed to have the opportunity to be apart of each and every one of these children’s lives. They spread more love, laughter, and fun than any mess or disaster that may sometimes be created.

Isn't Jason the toughest football player that you ever did see?

Isabella and Will played their little hearts out in this cardboard box. It's amazing where one's imagination can lead with such a simple box. Needless to say that this box was utterly destroyed by days end.

Evan (Wolverine) was the boy that I watched over the summer. This was his last day, and consequently, the first week with watching the Lewis kids (left to right: Sabrina, Katelyn, and Jason). We all decided to have a going away party. For some reason the theme was Halloween (in August, go figure). The only child I currently watch is Jason (Spiderman). He's at my house for half the day, and at preschool for the other half.

Will and Bella love playing. Will is one and a half. He is so cute! I love to kiss his cheeks. Isabella apparently loves to give him death hugs with vice-like gripping action.

2008-09-21T18:43:00.000-07:00

Cousin Celeste and Isabella give each other loves during Labor day weekend.

The boys get ready to take a ride of their life on "The Throne of Power" during Labor Day weekend. (Left to right: Hayden, Garrett, Josh)

Evan, the boy I watched this summer, took this photo of us as a family.

The boys enjoy a drink outside on the deck during the 4th of July holiday. (Left to Rigth: Isabella, Tyler, Garrett, Heyden, and Josh)

Isabella sits next to her cousin Kyla at the Poyfair lake house (July 4th weekend).

Izzy plays in the pool during the 4th of July break.

The adults get ready for some serious water skiing (July 4th weekend).

Isabella makes brownies.

Josh and I take a walk with Isabella and cousin Kyla at the lake.

Isabella has her backpack on and can't wait to go to school. It's too bad that she'll have to wait a couple of years.

Josh in Utah looking tuff on his friend Roy's Motorcycle.

All of the cousins posing for the "perfect" picture at the lake on Labor Day weekend.

Bella shares a hug with cousin Shaylee in Utah this summer.

Izzy just loves Grandma Draper.
Josh and Nikki goof off in Utah at our brother-in-law, Cameron's studio.

Uncle Cabe and Bella tell stories to each other in the car.

Jalene teaches Izzy the value of hard work.

Cousin Domique and Bella played so hard this summer. Isabella can't wait to go back to Utah and visit him again.

Shaylee and Isabella take a wagon ride with Aunt Jody. Izzy had a blast playing with all of the girls.

Great Grandma Draper and Isabella. Bella had fun snacking on grapes, watching the humming birds outside her window, and absolutely loved feeding the horses in the backyard. Aunt Hazel and Grandma sure know how to make this little one happy.

During the summer we all went to Nikki's parents lake house for the 4th of July and also for Labor Day weekend. It turned out that most of the family showed up too. We all had a great time visiting with each other, playing in the Water, Boating, singing Karaoke, eating yummy snacks from the magical refrigerator that never gets empty, and loads of other stuff. Celeste and Isabella had the same pajamas....how embarrassing (ha ha). They didn't seem to mind. It was fun to see all of the family getting to know each other more.

Our family was able to take a trip to Utah in August to visit Josh's side of the family. We had SO much fun. Time flew by so quickly. We wish we had had more time to see more people. One of Josh's sisters (Jalene) recently got married (to Kenny). It was nice to meet him as well as other "friends" of the family. We already miss everyone so much. We can't wait for another opportunity to make another visit.

2008-04-06T16:58:00.000-07:00

Experimental messy page!

I'm a virgin blogger. I'm very intimidated. My sister-in-law (Sara) told me to write a little about my life......

I've been married to my husband Josh for 2 years. He teaches special education preschoolers. I used to teach special ed. p.e. from pre school age up through high schoolers. We have a beautiful one year old girl Isabella that I am able to stay home with now.

We also have two dogs, a black lab - "D-O-G", and an Italian Greyhound - "Lulu." We love to be healthy and fit. Most of all we love to enjoy life and experience as much as we can.