Brooklyn & Dylan's Room

I finally got motivated to re-paint my littlest girls' room. The walls used to be a light yellow color, but Diddy had colored all over them and they were sooo dirty. I like how the color turned out. It's bright enough, but not too bright. Brooklyn loves it because it looks like the color of Sleeping Beauty's dress. Eventually I will decorate the walls and sew custom drapes, but probably not until the crib is gone. I would love to make some wall art...Carol. I need help, I am not very crafty.

This is the built-in window seat my husband made for me! It's awesome having a husband that can build custom furniture! I just point to it in a magazine and he builds it. He built my entire bedroom set, too (platform bed, dresser, and nightstands). Again, I need to sew some custom curtains, pillows, window-seat cover, etc. It's just not that fun taking a bunch of kids to the fabric store! Anyway, the whole point was to make the girls room so they would like to spend alot of time in it...more quiet time for mom.

Back to School

Ok, so here is my "back to school" post. The kids were so excited to go back, but not nearly as excited as I was. Lincoln is in 1st grade this year. Yay! Starting next week the kids will ride their bikes to and from school, and I will hardly ever have to go there.

The night before school started, Taylor put the song "Breakout" by Miley Cyrus on her computer and gave me strict instructions to just turn that song on LOUD in the morning to wake them up! So, that's what I did. They both jumped out of bed and started dancing and laughing. Taylor is growing up way too fast. For her, it was all about the outfit on the first day of school (Blake couldn't care less). Taylor is also obsessed with those teen magazines...she has posters all over her walls. What happened to Barbie's & Polly Pockets?? I'm not ready for this...

We are so excited that Taylor's cousin Britten (middle) is in her class this year!

Blake even had a pretty good morning. She usually has a meltdown or 2 in the mornings about her shoes, socks, or her backpack being too light. She left the house with her socks rolled down and 3 cookbooks in her backpack.
What can I say about Lincoln! I had to drag him out of bed (as usual). He was very timid going to the big playground to line up. He found his "boys", though, and then he was fine. All of the kids got the teachers that they wanted, and most of their friends in their classes. I can tell it is going to be a great school year. I had the biggest smile when I left them! It's so easy only having Brooklyn and Dylan home. They play so well together, and Dylan just follows Brookie around and copies EVERYTHING that she does. It's so cute! I even decided to paint Brooklyn and Dylan's room yesterday! Been wanting to do that for a while. Maybe I will post some pictures of their room later...

It's Official

My husband is now, officially, the new Stake Young Men's President. Let me tell you, it has been hard to keep this one a secret for the past month! It has given me time to get used to the idea, though.

Goodbye, honey. It was nice seeing you every evening and weekend for the past 10 years. I will miss you, but I am sure we will see eachother again in a few years when you are released.

Brandon's Show!

We went up to Spring Mountain Ranch last night to see Brandon's show. The show is "Aida" and Brandon is playing one of the leading roles. I loved it! Brandon was amazing, as usual. The other two leading ladies were amazing. I took my girls and we had a blast. It's always fun to go up there and escape the heat. It's nice and cool up there. The girls loved the show, and they think it's pretty cool that their uncle is always the star of all the shows. It makes them famous by association or something like that. If you are looking for something cheap and fun to do before summer's over, you should get up to see this show! Here's the website!

Something random...Brooklyn came downstairs crying this morning because she lost her scream. She said her scream was gone and now she can't scream for help anymore. I hope it lasts...

Where did summer go???

It's already time for the kids to go back to school? I'm not done sleeping in and laying by the pool! It's been a crazy busy summer for us, and I feel like we haven't really done anything. I have spent my days scrambling to pick up after everyone (and all their friends that are over). I am really tired of being a short-order cook (15 different meals a day)! If I hear the words "I'm bored!" again, or come downstairs to another "fort" I think I will go insane! It has been a nice break from school, though, for the most part! Here are a few things we did...

Jim and Lincoln took a fishing trip.

Dylan turned 2!

The kids built LOTS of forts! This one was more like a mansion. Goodbye kids! I will miss you during the day while you are at school...kinda...I think.

Randomness from Blake's Camera

Blake lost her camera somewhere in Utah during Pioneer Camp...not sure how they found it exactly because I was at camp. I'm sure Ellen had to do some searching for it, though. I just realized I haven't unloaded it for about year. Here are some random things I found on it...

I love finding little surprises like this!

These are from the first day of school LAST year...ooops!

Blake is so silly! Sorry you got put in the corner, Blakey! Ha Ha!

Some other things I found on Blake's camera:

• 85 pictures of Dylan
• 4 videos that I couldn't watch because I was getting motion sickness
• Pictures of every single ornament on our Christmas tree
• 5 pictures of a puzzle we put together

Thank you Blake for always making me laugh, and making life a blast for all of us!

Tagged...so everyone can see how lame I am, and since I never write about myself...

4 places I visit often:
My blog
Target
Smiths
Taco Bell
oddly similar to Carol's...

4 people who call/e-mail, or text regularly:
My hubby
Joey
Kelly
My YW President

4 favorite foods:
Pepsi (The breakfast of champions-counts as a food)
PBJ
Burritos from Taco Bell
Pizookies

4 places I'd rather be:
On a date with my hubby
Shopping....Carol!
Cancun
Laying out reading a 5th Twilight Book (on a remote beach somewhere)
...a girl can dream!

4 movies I'd watch over and over again:
The Notebook
Grease
The Count of Monte Cristo
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (never gets old)

4 bands/groups I like to listen to:
that's too easy...
Bon Jovi
Daughtry
Jason Mraz
Chicago (old school 70's Chicago, not 80's "church dance" Chicago)

4 people I am tagging:
Cari (cause I think she's really interesting, and I'm curious to hear her answers)
Joey (cause she's a new blogger, even though she might have some of the same answers as me!)
Linde (cause she's cute and I love her!)
April (cause she didn't do my tagged last time I tagged her...busted!)

Back from Camp

So, camp was really interesting...I think this is my 7th year up at Camp Stimpson, and I have never seen ANYTHING like what we experienced this week. We got up there on Tuesday morning, and the weather was great. We started getting settled in, and noticed the dark clouds...we hurried and put up the tarps and the pop-ups. Then it started POURING and HAILING all over us. We (the leaders) immediately started digging trenches around all the tents. We spent about 5 hours digging trenches to keep our tents from flooding. We managed to keep all of our stuff dry, for the most part, but it wouldn't stop raining. This was not just a little bit of rain. It was a constant down-pour of heavy rainfall. They had to evacuate us! I was glad to get home, get warm, and take a hot shower. I was freezing from digging in the mud.

So, we headed back up the mountain Wednesday morning, and it started pouring AGAIN! For about 4 hours, I think. We all just stayed in our tents and read "Breaking Dawn". I finished it (loved it!). Anyway, the sky cleared and we had pretty good weather the rest of the week, but it felt like we lost 2 days of camp and it went by too fast. Lots of amazing spiritual experiences and bonding with the girls! I love my calling!

I came home to a half-empty house! Taylor, Blake, and Brooklyn went to Idaho to see Jim's sister and their cousins. So, for a week, I will only have Lincoln and Dylan! It will be easy to catch up on stuff with only 2 kids at home.

TaylorBlake and Brookie:

I hope you guys are having lots of fun playing with your cousins and Grandma, Heidi, and Heather! You are so lucky! I will see you very, very soon! Be good, take lots of pictures, and don't forget your "indiwiginal prayers". Love you girls! -Mom

Our Latest Production

This had me rollin' on Sunday night! Maybe it's just because I'm their mom....if you decide to bear through it, there's a part where Lincoln accidentally smacks Westley in the face! It's hilarious! At least, I think it is!

I am off to camp this week up at good 'ol Stimpson! Boy, have they improved that place since I was a Youth up there! Finally finished all the camp stuff I had to do before I go. I'm burning the midnight oil tonight to finish "Breaking Dawn" before I leave. A lot of my girls have already read it, and I don't want them to spoil it for me up there! Carol....I snuck a Yum Yum! They're perfect!