Aubrey's Remedy for All

I think Aubrey has the right idea about how to lessen the pressure of a Thanksgiving meal. My pants myself were feeling a bit snug. Thanksgiving dinner was very generous to me this year and I'll be working it off for the next few weeks. We had a great time with family, friends, food and more family. Hope all of you had a wonderful holiday weekend too.

My Sister Had a Boy!

Isn't he so precious? I can't wait to get a hold of him. Congrats to the happy parents. I love the words my sister shared on Jackson's blog announcement. Lots of mommy love.

Whata Bout These?

From top left here, here, here and here.

Mother Dear

There is a reason why my girls always want to be near you. I feel the same way. I love you. Happy birthday.

I'll be posting a picture of when she was younger soon.

It's That Time

The date has been set. I am to find a dress to wear to Spencer's work Christmas party. The party is usually a big soiree so I like to dress in something formal yet still comfortable. I haven't been able to find anything that fits that bill. I really like the dress above but find the whole sizing thing on Etsy a bit unreliable. Any thoughts on where to buy something formal yet comfortable and most definitely MODEST?

Wish List Items

I've been needing to compile my wish list for the in-laws (for some reason we don't do this on my side of the family) and came across this website while visiting Oh Happy Day. A different vision then fashion and design came to my mind.

The List:

Dell Inspiron 1526 in some awesome color (doesn't have to be yellow)
A stylish bag to put it in (doesn't have to be the bag above but I do like)
Sushi set for two or four and sushi mat
Slippers
New flooring in kitchen and entry (by all means if your feeling generous go right ahead)
A good classic chick book (I've been wanting Jane Eyre but any Jane Austen would do too)

After writing this out I feel like the true spirit of Christmas went right out my door. Darn it.

I'll have to go back and tinker with Winter fashion ensembles. It is fun to layer and see what you can create. Check it out here.



Here is the Wish List

Beauty and the Beast

Nora and I went to Disney's Beauty and the Beast play this past weekend. I was truly impressed in the production considering it was done at a local library in a small theater. Nora liked most of it but there were some scary parts that she had to nuzzle her head into my shoulder and I would plug her ears (wolves and Beast roaring). We got to take a few pictures with the cast. Stephen, my brother, came with us. He is actually dating the extra in the bottom left corner pic. Cute, huh? Sadly the pic with Stephen is not so cute. It's your own fault (he loves making faces for my camera).

Art

Anyone who loves or even likes art will enjoy this website. Very kid friendly too.

{pic via 2modern}

Picture Wall

Spencer and I recently updated our family picture wall and since, it has brought me much joy. He caught me staring at it the other day. He knows I really like it. There are so many memories there and family legacy. I just love it and love to look at it.

Indoor/Outdoor

Slippers. I'd like a pair for each level of my home. We have three. I'm liking these right now.

Dolphin Habitat

We were able to attend a sweet VIP birthday party at the Dolphin Habitat at Mirage in honor of my brother-in-law and nephew. The kids loved it. Even the babies were genuinely interested and excited. I'm beginning to see why our Las Vegas Zoo isn't do so well here. They have this awesome dolphin exhibit and more to compete with.

Aubrey waiting for the dolphin to come back. Don't be fooled by her face, she loved the dolphins.

Ride on Cowgirl

I'd like to brag about Nora, did I tell you she is reading books now? It has been fun reading stories with her, now that she can sound out words. Sometimes, I get this feeling that she just knows certain things even though we haven't taught her out right. A couple of weeks ago she recited from memory the first five Articles of Faith to the older Primary kids, she's only in Nursery. The kids were great to her, cheered, gave high fives, even came up to her after church to tell her how cool it was that she knew them. All the attention didn't even phase her. She wanted to go back to Nursery and play with her friends. She just learned the sixth a few days ago.

Along with her amazing mental ability to retain information, she loves to dance. I recently was having a conversation with her when mid-sentence she stopped, looked at me and said, "Mom, I gotta dance." Then proceeded to run into the family room and began to dance. It was a priceless moment, she has some pretty awesome moves.

Forever ago we taught her a lesson on modesty during family home evening (the reason why is a whole other story). Since then that topic comes up in conversation with her often. Sometimes she talks about it in public. Like the time we were in Target and the whole family next to us in the isle, including the mom, was dressed immodestly. So, Nora turns to me and asks, "Mama why are they not dressed modest?" We were right next to them, RIGHT next to them, within inches. We have had a few of those incidents and we'll be teaching in FHE a lesson on being kind to other's feelings soon.

I just love how she marches to the beat of her own drummer. Wow, this turned out to be long. I guess I am one of those parents. Oh well. Yeehaw, ride on cowgirl.

Sophistimom

On a search for squash soup inspiration the other day, I came across the delightful blog, Sophistimom. I not only got inspired by her squash soup but also by her sweet momming talent (I know, I just made that word up, like many of my words), and ability to capture what she makes for dinner. I'll be adding this one to my inspiring blog list. Check it out here.

Love

These beautiful girls have been given to me on loan from Heavenly Father. Lucky me. Sometimes it just hits me hard how blessed I am. In this crazy world - at this crazy time, I feel blessed.

I Run for Nie

That is what the sticker said that we wore on our body for the 5k in honor of Stephanie and Christian Nelson. Saturday had perfect weather. It was great to see the crowd of people when we drove up all geared up for the race. We made it a family event so Spencer and the girls accompanied me. It was a feel good morning all around; great cause; good workout; great company; met blogging buddy Aranne and her husband (it was great meeting you!); saw and chatted with two of the Earl brothers from my growing up years in Reno and my friend Lyndsay with newborn Zackery. Yes, an all over feel good morning.

Costumes

Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, visited Grandma's house on Halloween. Some may find it cruel that I dressed up my baby girl as a wolf but I thought she looked pretty cute, even if people couldn't tell whether she was a girl or a boy. I wish although, I would have made her a snout so others would have been able to guess what she was ("Is she a bear?"), there would have been no way she would have kept that on though.

Before taking these pictures, Nora, had a blue popsicle and stained her mouth and lips. We rubbed all we could but to no avail. So, we ended up putting lipstick on her 3 year-old lips. In her toothy smile you can still see blue. She had such fun since she was finally understanding the concept of Halloween. Now, if only she understood that the holiday was over. I would not feel so bombarded with questions like, "Mom, will you make me a blue Cinderella gown?" or, "Mom, will you make me a blue gown?" and, "Oh, you can't make me one? Well, then can you make me a green and pink gown instead?"

I wanted to show you a picture of Nora's pointed hood and vest. I loved the end result. I felt like she popped right out of the fairy tale's pages.