Mini Letters

*I saw this idea on Vintage Fern.  I thought it was clever. 

Dear Sammy,
Thanks for being really, truely helpful today while I cleaned up the yard.  You helped keep me motivated to get the job done. 
kisses, Mama

Dear Jacob,
I love you and your excitedness.  It makes me laugh.  Good job getting your Bear tonight.
Kisses, Mama

Dear Mia,
Your eyes are so big and brown.  I love how big and bright they look especially after I trim your bangs.
Kisses, Mama

Dear Mailman,
Thanks for being as excited for my package that came today as I was.  You are the most friendly mailman that I have ever met.
no kisses for you though, Megan

Dear Sharmyn,
I love love mail.  You are the best!
kisses, Meg

Dear Ry,
It still makes me laugh when you answer the phone like Mia did so long ago.
kisses, Linc

Dear Samalama,
I thought it was pretty dang funny that you called yourself Samalamadingdong today.  You are my favorite little garbage man.
kisses, Mama

Jake's TEN!

I can't hardly believe that my little man is already TEN YEARS OLD!! He had quite the day. First off, a special birthday breakfast. Jake requested the whole shebang and ate it all with gusto. On the menu was scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, pancakes with mini chocolate chips, bacon (of course!) and orange pineapple juice. Yum! We all enjoyed his choices.

In class, he gets to have a poster up all week all about him. I love his poster because it is SO very much him! He chose his pictures and arranged them himself. He requested that I cut out his name in different fonts and decorated it all. And yes, it was his idea to add "is awesome!!". He makes me laugh!

That morning, I got to go and talk to the class about him. Looking slightly embarrassed, he happily sat as the center of attention. The kids get a chance to ask questions about him and they asked some good questions like these:

• Q: "If you could live on any planet, where would you live and why?"
• A: Pluto and ummmmmm........?
• Q: "If you could be any Star Wars character, who would you be and why?" (Do they know him or what?)
• A: "CAPTAIN REX! Because he's the best!"
• Q: "If you could have any super power, what super power would you have? "
• A:"FLY!"

And on and on for a good ten minutes, he answered question after question. The kids were really good and they all seem to like him pretty well.

I was back in his class just two short hours later to throw a Valentine's party. A very successful party considering I forgot the correct time the party was supposed to start. Let's just say it was a blessing in disguise that only one mom out of five could come and help. Ryan and I ended up throwing the party almost by ourselves! Dumb, dumb, dumb Linc.

After school, the boys (Jake, Dallin, Mike and Sam) all jumped in the trunk of Ry's jeep. The scariest thing happened when the tailgate opened. Ryan said his dashboard beeped that the door had opened and he looked up just in time to see the door open and Sam disappear. He slammed on the brakes and ran back there expecting to find Sam in the road but thankfully, Jake and Dallin saved him and were holding onto his pants. Ryan was relieved! He said the boys just looked at him with a goofy grin and told him that they saved him. Jake sang all day that he saved his life that day. I agree! It could of been so bad. Needless to say, riding in the trunk is no longer allowed.

That night, we went to Golden Corral with the Sevy's. Jake's choice of course. He boasted that he ate 5 1/2 steaks that night! FIVE and a half! And that wasn't all he ate. He had plate after plate of fried chicken, ice cream, orange slices, bacon spinach pizza etc. etc. I'm surprised he didn't have a stomach ache!

Finally home for presents, he was thrilled to open his 3 in 1 clone blaster that he wanted with all his heart. I'm glad that we got it for him and that he was so happy about it.

Cherry cheesecake was his requested dessert. Yum!

And to finish an already long post, just a few highlights about Jake.

• He still loves Star Wars with all his heart! Still into the clones the best, but likes to play Anakin too.
• He's doing well in 4th grade. His teacher, Mrs. Langford is working to help him be organized. It's not quite working yet. :)
• His best friend is Dallin Thompson. They play together everyday after school.
• He still makes friends easily.
• He's happy to play and grumpy to clean.
• His favorite games are Guitar Hero and Star Wars Battlefront.
• His favorite color is red.
• His favorite foods are steak and bacon and insists that he needs meat in every snack or meal of the day.
• He is still as busy and goofy as ever!

Happy Birthday my Jakey!! I can't believe that you are already TEN!

With much love,

Mom

Mia's Dance Recital

Mia's dance recital was on January 27th.  She did AWESOME!!  We were all so proud of her.  Before the recital, Jake did a mini photo shoot of her.  He cracks me up and she, obviously, was loving it!  Check her sassy self out!  We got her the pretty pink rose. 

And then I let Jake take photos of her dancing.  He likes it and I like watching her.  I have a video of her from the dress rehearsal but I wish that I would of taken a video of her on recital night.  She really stepped it up and danced much better than the night before.  She knew all the steps and loves being on stage. 

The opening pose.  Then she starts a cute little hip shake right after this.

And the final pose.   She tried out many different options before she settled with this pose.  It's blurry, but you get the idea.

Afterwards, Grandma Sharon and Auntie Megan brought her these cute brightly colored daisies and took us all out to dinner at Crown Burger.  She loves her flowers and they are still look great after all this time. 

Mia's drawings

Mia is very much into drawing and ever since she has learned to read and spell, she is always writing love notes to everyone.    They are the best! 

Her New Year Resolution is to get better at drawing.  It's very much her.  At night, she begs to draw in her bed.  "Just one more quick sketch?" she'll try and negotiate.

She'll often draw a picture of what I am doing.  Here is the magnet board project.  She's disappointed by the lack of pink in the rest of the house.  Here, she thought that it would look good to paint the hooks board pink and blue stripes.  As always, it's from loving Mia.

Or while I am cleaning the kitchen.  Her drawings of her pictures on the fridge is my favorite part.  As is the drawing of her drawing at the table.   I have it up in a frame in the kitchen.

These little things in my life really make me happy. 

Christmas 2009

Christmas is all about traditions and one of our traditions that we think is funny and is most definatley un-intentional, is somehow, someway the kids sleep in till 8am each year.  I don't know if it is because they were up late in the night trying to catch Santa (as Jake tried very hard to do this year) or if they are so excited that they exhaust themselves.  Whatever the reason, it's kindof nice for us sleepy parents that spent more time then they thought being excited for Christmas morning.

Mom & Dad came over and brought us some breakfast casserole and watched as the kids opened the few presents we had.  Santa had brought clothes and a baby for Mia, Star Wars legos and clothes for Jake and a great big garbage truck for Sam!  They were all happy with it.

Miss Mia was having a hard time and was quite grumpy through the opening of the gifts.   I ended up putting her back in bed, feeding her breakfast casserole by hand and getting some medicine in her to help her feel better.  It wasn't until after 11:30am that we got to the Sevy's house for the second part of Christmas morning.  Good thing those Sevy grandparents are patient, as hard as it was to wait.

We always start with our traditional breakfast feast of eggs, biscuits and bacon of course, hot chocolate, orange juice and milk and Grandma's famous cinnamon roll Christmas tree. 

After breakfast, the kids happily get spoiled with piles of presents for them to open and play with.  We get spoiled to and most thankfully for me, Ryan gets some wonderful presents from his family that he deserves but never will ask for.   Autie Dee-Dee made three afghans for the kids.  I can't imagine the time she spent on each one.  A zig-zag one for Jake, a striped one for Sam and a flowery one for Mia.  They are warm and special to us.

I let Jake go with the camera that morning.  He took some funny videos.  He is a silly one for sure.  Sam and Mia help Gram open her present from us.  We got her custom silhouettes oraments of the kids for her Christmas tree. 

Paper strewn about, toys being played with, treats being snacked on and family together, that time with the family was the happiest of our day.

Christmas Eve 2009

Christmas Eve was an exciting one for us this year. Poor Mia had just had surgery to remove her adenoids and put tubes in her ears just the day before. We had to have the surgery by the end of the year and unfortunately for us, the 23rd of December was the only day open. She was in a lot of pain from the surgery. More than we ever though she would be and therefore, she was not feeling very happy. Top that with the fact that I was dealing with pneumonia so the two of us just wanted to go to sleep.

Tradition dictates that you must get new Christmas Eve pj's to open. The kids knew what was coming. Mia was thrilled

But she perked up as soon as she got her new nightgown on. 

Sam was just as excited for his pj's!

And of course, as traditions go, you must get a picture in front of the Christmas tree in new Christmas jammies.  And as Sevy children traditions go, you must be goofy, goofy excited by this point.

Finishing off traditions, we read from the Scriptures about the birth of our Savior and also read "Twas the Night Before Christmas".  Then the children excitedly trotted off to bed in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

Temple Square - December 2009

While Sharmyn was here visiting, we got to go to Temple Square with her. Of course, I was mighty late trying to get the kids out the door after flute lessons, get through mounds of rush-hour traffic and find a secluded parking place that was more than a little scary to this small town girl. Still, that aside, it was fun to walk through and see the lights and listen to what the kids said. It was freezing cold good fun!

The classic posed photo. Oooo...such pretty lights!

A sweet moment between my ragamuffin kids.

The kids thought this guy was the best!

Of course, the reason why we went was to see the temple and the nativity. Jake took this shot.

Afterwards, we went on a hunt to find some hot chocolate and after much deliberation we ended up of with none. We were, however, lucky to be the ones to drive Sharmyn to her destination that night.