Shelle' and Emma's Dance Recital

Ava and I were able to have a little "mommy-daughter" date last weekend. We went to see my two beautiful (twin) nieces perform in their dance company's show: "Everything denotes there is a God". It was unlike any other recital I've ever seen, because all of the dances were choreographed to LDS or Christian based songs. The Spirit was felt so strongly, and they did such a great job! Ava looks up to them both so much, and loved being there to see them, as did I. And I absolutely love having a daughter to be able to go do these kinds of things with. She's so much fun to hang out with.

My Joy

Today has been extra fun being a mom. Cael turned around three different times on his way into school this morning to blow me three big kisses. Ava and I sat and painted our toe nails, and did pretend make-up and hair all morning. And Will is just such a good baby, and is always content to just sit and hang out wherever I'm at. I love my three muskateers.

Will broke our perfect track record.

All bandaged up.

This past week Will had to get stitches in his thumb, which means he's the first one of our three kids to get them...I guess we've been pretty blessed as far as major accidents go. As Cael was closing the door to the refrigerator, Will was crawling by and put his finger in a little crack where the hinge is. It completely took off his thumb nail, and pinched the finger pretty severely. Luckily it happened early in the morning while Andy was still here, and so he helped me deal with the situation. I'm actually kind of surprised at how queezy it made me. Usually stuff like that doesn't bother me, but I realized when it's something on my own child, I guess I'm kind of a wimp. I couldn't even look at it, and made Andy keep it covered with a cloth until I could get him into the doctor. Sure enough, that little thumb needed a few stitches. The hardest part though was having to hold him down and make him hold still while they were numbing and treating it. Poor little guy, he's never cried that hard, and once we got out of the doctors office he was out like a light.

Andy's Birthday Weekend

Tubing at Soldier Hollow - Ben, Allyson, Tara, Grant, Nate, Bobby Jo, Andy, Holly

Thanks to these guys, we almost got kicked out of the resort. You can always leave it to our husbands to turn a nice little tubing run into a death trap. We just pretended like we didn't know them. :)

I've never heard these girls scream so loud...ever! And daredevil Tara (who's 9 months pregnant), hit most of the runs with us too.

The after-party in our room at Zermatt. Melissa and Jesse surprised Andy by bringing the pizza and cake.

The guys played "Rock Band", and Ben dazzled us with his vocals. :)

Mel, Al, Hol, and Bob.

Wow. It was truly great entertainment.

When we got home we got to have a little party with Cael, Ava, and Will.

The whole thing was a surprise to Andy, which I can't believe I pulled off...and I was only able to do it thanks to our friends, and to my mom for tending the kids. Andy always ends up finding out anything I ever plan, or else I usually just tell him because I can't keep secrets from him. I was so proud of Cael and Ava for not blowing it either, which was hard for them to do because they were so excited to have Grandma come stay. Whenever I would go over the plans with Cael he was so cute to make sure that I wasn't really going to "kidnap" dad. So I showed up at his office all excited, with our bags packed and ready to go. I told him he needed to come with me, and he just looked up at me and said, "Uh...well I'd love too, but I have two appointments coming in right now." Dang it! Guess I hadn't thought of that. So I ran errands for a few hours until he was able to leave, and then we drove up to Midway where some of our friends surprised him at the hotel.

Happy Birthday, sweet Ava!

Ava turned 3 last week! I can't believe how fast she's growing up...she's already started liking Hannah Montana and High School Musical stuff more than her dolls and princess toys! I thought that would start happening when she was like 5 or 6...or 7? She's been such a blessing to our family! She's our little miss sunshine, and makes us laugh many times each day. We love you sis!
Some fun facts about Ava:
-She would rather munch on veggies and fruit than eat a piece of candy...with the exception of Gum! She would have a piece in her mouth every second of the day if I let her, and even sneaks pieces into her bed at night, which I usually find the next morning on her pillow or in her hair! One of the presents she got was a gum ball machine, which we bought thinking that maybe if she had one she could learn some self-control...but that didn't really happen. With some help from Cael and the neighbor kids, it already needs a refill!
-She loves to sing and dance, but once she sees anyone looking at her while she's performing, she'll say; "Don't see me!".
-She is such a peace maker at our house, she'll give into Cael's requests EVERY time. Lately, she has a rope permanently tied around her waist from the time Cael gets home from school till she goes to bed...he likes to pretend he's Santa, and she's one of his reindeer, they run from room to room "delivering presents". Even though I don't really think she enjoys it that much, she wouldn't have it any other way because she knows it makes him happy.
-Sometimes in the middle of the night she likes to go downstairs and climb into bed with Cael. She used to come and get into our bed, but I would always take her back to her own. Cael is such a deep sleeper he never even knows she's there until he wakes up the next morning, but is always happy to see her.
-She's such a smart girl, and knows how to count to 20 and sing her ABC's. She's really excited to enter Primary in January, mainly because now she can go to the same place Cael does, instead of being dropped off in the nursery.
Happy Birthday Ava!

Will has finally started crawling, and so now I really need to watch what Cael and Ava leave on the floor. Last night, just after his bath, he found an OREO and ate the entire thing while I wasn't looking.

GNO!

When the boys are away, the girls will play!

Andy went with a bunch of his friends on their annual trip to Vegas for SEMA (a car show), and so us girls got to have a night out full of shopping, dinner, and great conversation. I don't know why we don't ditch the guys more often!!!

Happy Halloween!

A ballerina, a bumble bee, and a Power Ranger.

Andy took the kids trick-or-treating while I stayed home to pass out candy.

We had to snag a quick pic of this cute little bee. He was miserable in this costume, so needless to say it wasn't on for long.

Cael with his "Pit Crew" buddies: Grant, Brock, and Cade.

Ava's the one we have to watch closely when it comes to her candy bucket...we always find her hiding behind some couch scarfing piece after piece. This year her costume was a little last minute because she'd been wanting all along to be "Belle", so after getting her costume all ready with all the right accessories, she decides the day of Halloween that she HAD to be a ballerina.

Pumpkin Carving contest...Andy wins every year (we have our neighbor friend be the judge), and so no one ever wants to be on my team. But not this year, I finally won!!

Making a witches brew.

My Grandma Beardall

My sweet Grandma "B" returned home to our Heavenly Father Tuesday. We love you and will miss you so much.

Billie Irene Blake Beardall, 78, passed away October 21, 2008. Irene was born on September 17, 1930 in St. George, UT, to Reed E. and Ethyl Harris Blake. She married Clyde LaVoy Beardall on May 28, 1949. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple. They recently celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary. Irene attended St. George schools, and in high school won three state championship tennis titles. She graduated from BYU in Home Economics. She earned her Masters Degree also from BYU in Library Science, taking some of her classes at Long Beach State and Cambridge University in England. She taught in Provo School District for 25 years, at Dixon Jr. High and as the Media Specialist and Librarian at Timpview High School. She was a wonderful cook and enjoyed many things including traveling, shopping with her children and grandchildren, quilting, and crocheting. Irene was an excellent seamstress and quilter. She also played in Contract Bridge Tournaments, but her passion was reading. There wasn't a book that she hadn't read, and she always had a new book to suggest to anyone interested. She and Clyde enjoyed years of traveling the world together. Their congeniality attracted many life-long friends. She took pride in the beauty of her home and had a talent for interior decorating. She never met a house or room she didn't want to decorate. Irene is survived by her loving husband Clyde; one son, Douglas, two daughters, Gayle (Bryan) Christensen, and Lisa (Bruce) Murdock; 11 grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren; siblings Reed H. (Katie) Blake, Kathleen (Robert) Mitchell, and Karen (John) Frei. The family extends a special thanks to the compassionate caregivers of VistaCare Hospice, for their loving care. Funeral services will be held Friday, October 24, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. in the Suncrest 10th Ward Chapel, 90 North 600 West, Orem. Family and friends may attend a viewing on Thursday evening from 6-8 p.m. at Sundberg-Olpin Mortuary, 495 South State St., Orem and at the church on Friday one hour prior to services. Interment will be in the Provo City Cemetery.

This past week I've sort of had a little "awakening" if you will. I was busy cleaning our house, Ava and Will were both napping, and Cael had been following me from room to room asking me to play a game with him. I was trying to hurry and just kept telling him I would play when I was finished. Well he kept at it, trying to get me to stop what I was doing and just sit and play. Finally he said, "Mom, I'll pay you four dollars if you'll play with me." Are you kidding me? I about lost it. I had been so caught up in what I was doing, and what I thought was so important at the time I didn't even see an opportunity to spend some one on one time with him.
When all is said and done, and my kids are all grown, will I look back on this time in my life and say, "I wish I had cleaned my house more", or "I wish I'd spent more time at the mall" or "I wish I would've watched more episodes of....". The answer is NO. The only thing I will wish I would've done more is spent more time with my kids, played with them more, laughed with them more, taught them more, showed them more love and patience. I can't risk the chance of ever having those regrets.
Whenever I get frustrated with all of the responsibilities that are placed before me, or anything really that would distract me from my most important role, a poem comes to mind that my mom often says. It goes like this:
"I hope that my children look back on today, and see a mom who had time to play. There will be years ahead for cleaning and cooking, for children grow up while we're not even looking. So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep. I'm playing with my children, because children don't keep."
-author unknown

hOgLe ZoO

Happy Sumo

Bobby Jo, Allyson, Melissa, Me, Tara

Grant, Andy, Jesse, Ben, Nate


I've really tried my hardest to like sushi...but I just can't seem to stomach the thought of what it is. I feel so uncultured when I have to order a chicken dish at a sushi restaurant, it's almost embarrassing (almost :).

BEAR LAKE

School Days are here!

Cael started kindergarten and is really enjoying it. He even happily does the homework he's assigned to do each night. The first day of school I was holding back tears when I took him to his classroom, and I still want to cry every time I have to drop him off. However yesterday he said to me "Mom, I like when Dad takes me to school", and when I asked him why he doesn't like me to do it, he said; "Well, dad's cool, and sometimes you're embarrassing." WHAT?? I couldn't believe I'd crossed over into the category of an "Embarrassing Parent" already. Maybe it has something to do with how many kisses I try to give him before he gets out of the car, or how many times I yell "Be good, I love you", as he's walking into the school. Or maybe it's my robe, slippers, and hair up in curlers that does it. (j/k -I don't do that yet)...so from now on I'm going to try not to be so weird.


Ava started her Joy School. We hold it once a week and there are 5 kids in the group, I was able to teach the first rotation, and I actually liked it a lot. Ava loved being in "school" like Cael. We went to go buy her a little backpack, but she was adamant that it be a purse she takes with her to class. So she picked out a new one with blue sequins all of over it. She carries it EVERYWHERE!

Build-A-Bear

My poor, deprived children FINALLY got to make a bear at Build-A-Bear Workshop, and only because their Grandma spoils them rotten (she says Grandma's are allowed too). There have been so many times we've walked by that store while at the mall, and every time they beg me just to go in and watch the other kids make their bears. And each time I'd tell them; "Maybe next time you can do it". I've always put it off because I just knew it would end up being an expensive outing just to buy a teddy bear. Because once you've had it stuffed, then they rope you into buying an outfit for it, and shoes, and accessories. Well, Grandma sure let them go crazy, and so they walked out of that store with some pretty cute teddy bears. I can't believe how much fun they had doing it.






Thanks for a fun day Mom!