Birthday, Birthday, and More Birthday

Cole turned 2 last Thursday. It was VERY uneventful...poor kid. Though I must admit it's more his fault than mine. He just wasn't into it. If we mentioned his bday was coming, he'd say no and swat his hand. Didn't want to be sung to. Barely wanted to open presents (unless we told him what it was before AND it was a car or truck.)He did want to go swimming, but with single digit temperatures I wussed out. We'll make it up to him sometime. Maybe next year. Maybe when he's five.
Side note: Not sure if it's being sick or just two, but cole is no longer our sweet obedient boy. Doesn't like to get dressed, get his picture taken, eat, or anything else we ask him to do. Which leads us to the ONE picture I have to post of him....



Now on to Mclayne. She turns FOUR today! She is very excited to go see Princess and the Frog with 3 friends tonight and see Walk with the Dinosaurs next week. Here are the latest pics of our little four year old...





Going to dance, playing her Leapster, and today with her pre-school birthday treat (brownie lollipops).
Besides cute Princess Mclayne and my messy house, I found some other notable things in the last picture...

Christmas

This year our Christmas included...
Christmas morning a week early in Colorado
Flying to Utah (and a couple more visits from Santa)
Cole decorating the house with goldfish while we packed
Zhu Zhus and Zoobies
Everything car, truck, and train for Cole
Lunch with great friends...and great gifts (thanks again!)
Christmas IMAX movie
Lights at Temple Square
Han Solo/Chewbacca playing in the snow
Ryan and I finally seeing The Blindside
Mclayne wanting to be a donkey in the "Jesus Show"

I'm sure most of our Christmas festivities were captured much better by other cameras, as I once again slacked at picture taking. But, I {and Ryan} was able to snap a few.......


These are the pictures we gave the grand parents and great grand parents for Christmas. They {and I} loved them.















The kids waited a long time to sit on Santa's lap...50 kids to be exact. Cole of coarse asked for a choo-choo and car, and Mclayne asked for EVERYTHING...including what the girl before her wanted. It's been long enough now that I can say it was worth it.:)

People of Walmart . Utah edition

I'm a huge fan of PoWM. So, I thought I'd share some of my home state's finest...

Darling Pinky

Dude, why are you dressed like a 7 year old at gym class? More importantly, where did u find pink frilly lacy socks in your size? Alright, maybe that’s not more important, but i’m still curious.
Utah


Diggin’ For Gold

I’ve got 4 to 1 odds saying she smelled her hand after she pulled it back out.
Utah


Guns Don’t Kill People

Mullet? Check. Stupid drinking t-shirt? Check. Proud of it? Check. Armed? Heck Yeah!
Utah



Not So Tighty Not So Whitey

I guess he thought he could roll his underwear over his pants and use them as a belt…didn’t work.
Utah

Thanksgiving..and a little before

I'm so behind I'm going to lump the last few weeks in with Thanksgiving. First there's this...
This is Laynie's self portrait. Got to love the art at this age.


We were also able to get some sledding in before we left town. It was a hit with the kids{and I quite enjoyed myself also}. Too bad the dads missed out! We definitely tested the limits of the costco sled. I'm sure it is not rated for a grown woman and three kids at the same time, but we did it anyway. The best run had to be when Sarah and I sent all four kids down...alone. Looking back on it now, sending four kids under the age of four down a steep hill with little jump on the end could have ended terribly. But the kids loved it.













And finally Thanksgiving...we headed to St. George and spent the holiday with Grandma + Grandpa Stewart and Uncle Seth + Aunt Susan. My mom set a beautiful table and the meal was delicious. We ended our five day stay with a trip to Zions to hike Angel's Landing. I don't know if it's because a woman fell 1,000 feet to her death the day before or I'm just getting old, but I didn't make it to the top. Maybe next time. I did take some pictures of Ryan and Seth starting the last leg to the summit...the pictures don't do it justice. It was pretty terrifying.


















Mclayne also taught herself a new trick in honor of turkey day...


HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Life as a single mom...

Last week Ryan was in Singapore, so we tried keeping ourselves entertained with lots of shopping, eating out, trips to the park, play dates, dance, a trip to the aquarium, and a birthday party.
Hope, Jane + Mclayne having a halloween candy tea party.










Mclayne took her friend Rylan to the aquarium. We got a little lost on the way and ended up touring some of Denver's not.so.nice areas. {For those who are reading this and live in the denver area and are wondering how on earth you get lost going to the aquarium...good question!? especially since i've been there at least three other times...drive much?)



and finally, cole and his new favorite winter garment this year. he even had to wear it to bed over his pajamas one night. with his long flowing hair-do and this sweater, Cole will be staying warm this winter!

More Halloween...

Last week we got A LOT of snow, so eventhough it's more of a Christmas thing, we decided to make a snowman. Mclayne has so much fun doing it, I'm sure we'll be doing it a few more times this year.








{1}Mclayne decided to give Frosty ears this year
{2}And you thought I was kidding about her LOVING to build snowmen.









TriCk Or TrEatInG
The only picture I got of cole looking at the camera...












he was too excited about his new boots, the jack-o-lantern....and showing his new boots to the jack-o-lantern.
*Disclaimer-I did have a shark costume for cole that is a little less "drag.queen.in.training," but he didn't like it...so flounder it is!







Mclayne was just a little excited too

I'm too lazy to post the pictures from after trick-or-treating. But just imagine the pitures from above, still not looking at the camera, but now covered in chocolate and gooey dum dums.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

It's almost Halloween...

Mclayne and her pre-school class at their Halloween party on Thursday...


Mclayne continued the partying by hosting a "Happy Halloween" at our house later that day and night. She wanted everyone in costume including her "imagination" friends and Ryan. He convinced Mclayne into dressing up as a mummy instead of himself. She loved it and it saved a lot of toilet paper!

OcToBeR in slide shows

We started October with a visit from Grandma Lori and Grandpa Steve - a.k.a baabock and bockbock. After helping Lori in the kitchen, Mclayne now wants to be "a chef at Olive Garden."

*Not pictured is the Utah vs. CSU game. It was a bit chilly and between the snow gear, blankets, chairs, electric hand warmer, non-electric hand warmers, etc. a camera somehow didn't make the trip.

We also made our way to the aquarium again. It never gets old...Lori and I learned about a see dragon thanks to Mclayne, Steve had his hand squirted by an archer fish after the feeding time show, and a sting ray nearly jumped over the side of the pool while I was feeding it fish. It was awesome!


Next, was our trip to So. Utah/Vegas for the football game, which I also have no pictures of...