December 30, 2008

Candy Cane Classic 2008

Jade is so cute all dressed up like a gymnast. She only let me put her hair up in one ponytail because of the cute hair accessory that they all have. She's not the most flexible, she's not the most focused, she's not the best, but she's my favorite. And, when it comes to climbing the rope, she's the strongest.

See, how high up on the rope she is? Yes, she touches the ceiling and then waves! It's funny that she can be fearless of the rope, but the balance beam and back handsprings scare her. I'm not going to be the one that tells her how much more she could get hurt if she fell off the rope than the beam.

Her team is pretty cute together. They are all between 4-6 years old. Jade isn't the oldest but she is the tallest. Which, is okay since we aren't doing this for her to be a competitive gymnast. When I was dancing, I always felt a little held back from my potential because I was too scared and completely unable to do anything like a back walkover or back handspring. My hope with Jade, is that she will have the ability and not have the fear so that she can do whatever she wants to do when she gets older. (I keep hoping she'll pick dance, but so far she's not interested).

Here she is with her 3rd Candy Cane Classic trophy. She has them nicely displayed in my room. (Although I have tried to get her to put them in her room, she thinks they look better in mine).




December 29, 2008

A short-fast-small update

My foot is going to be the death of me. I say that in jest and pray that it is not the case. It's been awhile since I've shared any information about my poor foot. So here's the latest...

I have been doing physical therapy and gaining a lot of my strength back, although my tiny calf doesn't show it. Then I was lucky enough to get my screws removed 2 months sooner than I had planned. Finally, on the 26th, I was going to get my stitches out and my boot off for good. BUT, I ended up with an infection and my foot wouldn't fit into any other shoes, so I remain in my boot. Over the weekend, my foot got bigger and more red- even though I'm on an antibiotic. I went back to see my doctor today and it turns out I have MR SA. (A form of Staph).

I'm allergic to Bactrim, so the antibiotic I'm on, is the best I can do. He is confident that it will be gone by the time I finish the antibiotic on Friday. We'll see. In the meantime, I'm soaking it in Epsom Salt and being faithful on my antibiotic- a struggle for me.

So, there you have it. Isn't it pretty? Even little?
Posted by Picasa

Snow Day!!!!

On the 22nd of December, Utah County got hit by quite the snowstorm. As I was in Draper, like nearly every day of the week, the clouds broke and there were pieces of blue sky. My car get sprinkled on now and then, but when I walked out to get in my car, it was dry. During my drive home, there was a light snow fall. Nothing to worry about too much. As I got closer to the point of the mountain, the roads got slushier and the sky got more grey. Once I got to my exit, the snow was falling hard and the roads were a mess. Driving up to my neighborhood, the snow fall stopped but the mess remained. On the day that I had a dry car in Salt Lake, my sweet family in Utah County stayed inside by the fire while 8 inches of snow covered our neighborhood.
The girls bundled up and Scott got in his snow blowing gear, and they all went out to play. Miss Kim stuck around to play with the girls and I snapped a few pictures. (I'm trying really hard to use manual settings, but Scott has pointed out that I should just stay in Auto mode when I really want all of the pictures to work).
Jade loved the snow and couldn't get enough of it. Ivy only stayed out for a while and didn't want to get too covered with snow. She was ready to come in with a cup full of snow to eat, while Jade played outside. It took Scott 45 minutes to clear the driveway, the road by our driveway and the sidewalks.



Posted by Picasa

Baby Zachary...

Once the kids were dried off and the driveway cleared, we piled into the car to brave the roads and see "Baby Zachary".
Ivy loves Baby Zachary and thinks he looks just like her Harry. If he's around, she constantly wants to hold him. But, she knows, "if he's asleep,I can't touch baby Zachary and if he's awake I can touch baby Zachary, but I have to wash my hands."
Jade thinks he's adorable and loved holding him for the first time.
Thankfully, neither of them have asked us if they can have a baby brother or baby sister.

Look- our home teachers do teach us

This is to prove that they don't always play Wii or XBox when they come over. Although I do think it is about time to check their wii fit age.
Posted by Picasa

December 28, 2008

Honestly...


2008 will forever be known as the year Jade lost her teeth. She lost 4 this year. It is an adorable toothless grin, but I'd like her to keep the rest of her baby teeth for a while longer.
Posted by Picasa

December 25, 2008

Christmas Sanford Quiz...

This year, Scott and I got to host the Sanford Family Christmas Eve. Scott put together a fantastic video full of footage from the time his mom and dad were little kids through Scott's early teens. He started going through videos a couple of weeks ago and then on Tuesday night, he never went to bed. It was definitely worth it and the highlight of the evening. Everyone laughed, and I think some even cried. It's 25 minutes long, so I won't post it here. But, I have to say, Scott's a natural. By the way, DANG you should have seen him in his short shorts.

As part of the evening, Scott gathered pictures of everyone as babies. He put together a different collage than this one, but I don't have it on my computer, so this is the one you get to see. We took all of the pictures and aged them and made them the same colors so that it would be a little harder to tell who's who. Boy, it was harder than we expected. Scott just had numbers on his collage and everyone had to guess what picture belonged to each member of the family. No one got them all right. Not even the ones that were working together.

Here are all of the pictures with names.


Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
Posted by Picasa

Ivy and her baby doll...

Ivy loves playing pretend with her baby dolls. Here was just a sweet moment I caught on "film"- okay on my memory card. She is just the sweetest little 2 almost 3 year old mommy.

Jady Lou Who and the other Who's in Whoville

The girls are in bed and we're tired, so I decided it was a great time to try and get caught up on a bit of blogging.

Jade's kindergarten class did an adorable production of "The Grinch". They dressed as "Whos" and sang in front of a sign that said "Whoville". Thanks to this fantastic show, Jade can belt out a powerful rendition of "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch" and her sister does her best to sing a long.

For the show, we did Jade's hair with a cup holding it up. We sparkled her face with my favorite MAC glitter, lined her eyes just right and mascaraed just the outside corner lashes. (Because that's what they did in Jim Carey's version of Dr Seuss's Grinch). Of course she requested a quick photo shoot before heading off to school.

The "Whos" were sad, you know, but only for a minute and then they were taken by the spirit of Christmas and smiled from ear to ear.

And here they all are. What a great job her teacher and her music teacher did.
After the show, Ivy gave her own show and was joined by her cousins. The first picture of her by herself was taken during a completely spontaneous singing of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" with hand motions and all. All of the parents that were still around stopped and listened to her sing and applauded her for her strong performance. Luke and Harrison sang with her for a song or two.
I'm so proud of my girls and the great jobs they both did at Jade's show.

December 21, 2008

Welcome Baby Fuller...

Aunt Kat and Uncle Jon had a baby boy- 19 inches long and 7 lbs 15 oz. He's their heaviest and their shortest. I'm hoping my cold won't keep me from meeting him.

Welcome to the family!!!

December 20, 2008

Ivy and bedtime...

Last night, Ivy was getting a little on edge. We asked her if it was bed time. The next thing I hear is, "Mom, I need you." I asked her what she needed and to come see me in the office. "I just need you." Again I told her to come into the office. Then she said, "I can't. I'm in bed and I need you to go and get me a bottle." (I know, she's three and still taking a bottle- I'm not the best mom). So, I went in and gave her a big kiss. Scott got her a bottle and she went to sleep.

Tonight, she and Jade wanted to watch a show and cuddle on the couch. She asked for her bottle, cuddled in and she's sound asleep by 7:30.

Guess we'll let her govern her own bedtime.

December 19, 2008

Cute little girls running around in the cold...

Sunday morning we woke up with a little bit of snow on the ground. The girls were so excited. Of course they wanted to make a snowman, but as you can tell, there was just not enough snow on the ground. We needed to do a little bit of running around before I left for a quick business trip. (By quick, I mean 29 hours round trip). The girls were eager to do it, even though it was in the low 30's. Jade was able to stick it out a lot longer than Ivy. She came in after a few minutes and said she wanted to get warm for a little while. So, Jade ran around by herself. Luckily, I was able to snap a few pictures of the cute little buddies. I love when they get a long and play well together. I only wish that was all the time!



Posted by Picasa

December 17, 2008

O Christmas Tree...

I love decorating for Christmas. I love my house at Christmas time. I wish I could have Christmas decorations up all year round. I do keep several of my Nativities out all year, because I like having them up to remind us of Christmas all year round.

I grew up in a house that looked so beautiful at Christmas. My mom had garlands hanging from every window, evergreen boughs draped over every bookcase, a fantastic collection of nutcrackers displayed in the living room and on the dining room table, and beautiful German pyramids warming the rooms with their soft candle light and fan.

Our family traditions around Christmas are some of my very favorites. I remember decorating the Christmas tree. The night before we (the kids) would decorate the tree, my mom would stay up late and put the lights, the red jeweled garlands, gold stars and the bows on the tree. We would come down in the morning to an already beautiful tree. Then in the evening, we would turn on Christmas music and all of the ornaments were laid out on the coffee table for us to decorate. The house smelled of mulling spices and the memories are just as sweet. We'd all put our own decorations (received each year either in our stockings or from my grandparents), on the tree first and then ones from the year we were born. Next we'd hang all of the dated ornaments that my grandparents had given us each year. Tom always got to hang the blue bird up at the top the tree. Lastly we would hang up the many wooden German ornaments. I loved those nights.
I really hope that my girls will have similar memories of our Christmas preparations. A couple of Sundays ago, we decorated our Christmas trees. The girls get to do the family room tree- after I did the garlands and the sparkles. There are clumps of ornaments down low and very few that the girls let me put up high.
They love their tree. Whenever someone comes over they want to show off their beautiful tree. I also love their tree and it makes me smile every time I look at it.

After we decorated the family room tree, I decorated the entry room Christmas tree. There are still a few things left to hang, and some furniture that needs to be moved, but my house is all Christmas and I don't want December to end.

December 16, 2008

December 16th, 2007

One year ago today was the day I started posting on Singing and Spinning. My real first entry was about my Christmas tree in the entry. I officially started it in May of 2007, but didn't get into it for quite a while. I started posting in December and let people, namely my mom, know that I was doing it in February. By the end of February, I was posting frequently and my mom convinced me I should let my friends and family know that I had entered the blogging world. And so it began.

I love posting on my blog. I love taking pictures and thinking about putting them up on my blog. I love wondering what you would like to read about. I love documenting my family's life with stories and pictures. I love that I have a journal that shares the good times and the rough times without sounding like a place to vent. (I have written in a journal since I was 8 years old. As I go back and read some of them, I have learned that I was, at times, an angry teenager and young adult). I love that my blog is a happy place for me to go and write or read. I love you for reading my blog and commenting.

Thank you so much for reading me and coming back to read more. Have a happy Singing and Spinning anniversary!

December 14, 2008

Letter for Santa...

This year, Jade decided to write a letter to Santa. She did all of this by herself, including gluing the bow on the front. She wanted to spell Christmas "C-H-R-I-S-M-A-S" because the T is silent- at least for her it is.

On the inside she drew and cut out snowmen. As Scott noted, Santa probably sees a lot of those since he lives at the North Pole.



You will also notice that on the right side, there is no writing. I asked her if she wanted to tell Santa what she wants for Christmas. She answered, "No, if he knows when I've been bad or good, he knows what I want." I had no argument. She's absolutely right.

By the way, Jade does believe in Rudolph. Not because it is a fun story to believe in. Here is why she believes...

Jade and Luke were having a conversation on the way up to the Zoo Lights. They were talking about how they believe in Santa. Jade said that she did NOT believe in Rudolph. That did not make Luke very happy. So, Aunt Kat told Jade that she had better believe in Rudolph, because anytime someone doesn't believe in Santa or his reindeer, it makes it so he can't fly.

"Oh. Well. I believe then."

Do you?

Posted by Picasa

December 10, 2008

A few edits from Luci's Birthday Party...

I know I already posted some pictures from Luci's birthday party, but I did a few edits and here are my favorites. She's a little doll to photograph. Of course I still have a LOT to learn. But I'm having fun along the way.




Posted by Picasa

Zoo Lights 2008

Last Friday night, Grandma and Grandpa took me and Kat, oh and the kids to Hogle Zoo. They really do it up right for Christmas. I loved getting to walk through so many well down lights. I did NOT love the cold. It took a while to get into the zoo, and the crowd was massive. Let's just say we had to park on the street. That may give you an idea of how many people there were. We weren't even terribly late getting there.
The kids loved the lights, and had fun doing the "Members Only" craft of creating a bookmark. They will make the most out of any craft they can do. Sick little Ivy even got out of the stroller to do the craft.
Here is a collage of the lights. Pretty cool, huh?

Here is another collage . (I love the collages you can do with Picasa 3). As you can tell by Ivy's eyes, she was in the middle of a fever episode. You won't catch us missing out on the fun due to a little old fever!

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for upgrading to a booster, getting us all in free and buying tickets for the merry-go-round. The kids (and the moms) want to do it again next year. We'll just bundle up better and not go on a Friday night.

December 7, 2008

Scott's Work Party...

Forgive me for the yellowness of the pictures. I'm still learning. :)
For Scott's work party, his boss rented space at Noah's in Pleasant Grove. Wow- what a neat place. We had a room that had a great big couch, a 90 inch screen and a pool table. We brought XBox and the Wii. We played RockBand and nearly everyone gave an instrument a try, but very few would give the singing a shot. It was a very fun night. Thanks Rich!
Rich's wife, Becki, makes the BEST cookies I have every tried. My favorites were oatmeal-coconut-raisin-chocolate chip. Oh my they were fantastic. I really need the recipe, but then if they don't turn out nearly as well as hers, I'll be depressed.

December 5, 2008

Tooth Number 3

In our house, you can't put your tooth under your pillow until we've had a photo shoot. I have to point out that I am not the one that drives that behaviour. Jade insists and picks where she wants to take the pictures. She gets so excited showing her cute little tooth. We've been wiggling it for months. The past week its been really loose. We have a rule that only Mommy can pull it out. It freaks Daddy out- I guess it's gross. (The one with the gag reflex has no problem with it- go figure). Unfortunately, Mommy didn't get to pull this one out. Jade was heading into gymnastics on Monday and had spent the whole day wiggling it. She was worried about it falling out during gymnastics, so Miss Kim pulled it out for her. It's amazing that she isn't even 6 and has lost 3 teeth. Although, our friend Bella has lost more teeth and they are the same age. It just means we have to take extra good care of her new teeth for a longer period of time.

I love this toothless grin- and the toothless lisp it is creating.



Posted by Picasa

December 4, 2008

I'm such a rule follower...

A couple of weekends ago, Melissa and I (and Kat and Jon) went to Coldplay. First off, I have to say it was a FANTASTIC concert. I want to go again. Only the next time I go there are a few things I will do differently....

1. I will bring my camera despite the warning on the ticket that says "No Cameras or recording devices"
2. I will bring my camera despite the great big sign right outside of the Energy Solutions Arena that says "No Cameras"
3. I will buy my tickets sooner, because I did not know that there were seats in the Energy Solutions Arena as high up as we were
4. I will not take pictures with my camera because the zoom sucks and when you zoom, the quality gets even worse

So, here are the crappy pictures of the best concert I've been to. (I can say that because I have not been to U2).





We had to end the night with a picture of us. Even with my crappy camera phone. Ugh, I even tried to clean the lens in the middle of the concert. It didn't make much difference.
Posted by Picasa