Watch Out Here She Comes!

We bought this great little walker on KSL.com for a whopping $10. Anna has loved to just stand up in it and throw all her toys off of it or just bang them on the tray.

This week things have changed. Anna has a new favorite game.

Anna has officially learned how to make her walker move. She is so cute. She hops more than walks but it still works to get her where she wants to go. Our life will never be the same.

My Kind of Bling!

We had a convenient death in the family. Not long ago my i pod mini died. I bought my mini over four years ago. We have run many races together, mowed many lawns, and made made wonderful long road trips together. Sadly my mini died one day, he just wouldn't turn on. I didn't feel too bad because I bought the i pod touch two Thanksgivings ago. I am embarrassed to admit that my touch has become my brain, I call it my brain, it does such a good job reminding me of so many things, not to mention holding like 8 days worth of music with room to spare. There is only one problem. Running with a touch is not as much fun as when I would run with my mini. Devin has let me borrow his i pod shuffle a few times and let me tell you it is amazing! So with the death of my mini I started thinking about getting a shuffle to run with. Conveniently Mother's Day was today.
I opened up the beautifully "wrapped" amazon box (yes Devin didn't wrap the box) to find a tinny little case holding the bran new i pod shuffle. Now that is my kind of bling! I told him every time I wear it I'll think of how much he loves me. Devin knows me so well. I'm not the diamonds type, but an i pod is right my alley.
Here is a picture of our i pod family.

Now let me be a nerd for just a moment. Starting at the left you have my old mini which holds 6 GB of music. (not bad) Then we have Devin's shuffle that holds 1 GB. Next we have my touch with 16 GBs of happiness. At the end we have my new shuffle, still in the box that holds 4 GB. WOW! HOLY COW! 4 GB in that tinny little thing. Look how small it is compared to the old shuffle!

Now what sold me on getting this new little i pod is that it can now have multiple play lists. How cool is it that I can have a different play list for running music, Conference, BYU devotionals, and other fun music all on the same little i pod. This is so cool! Seriously look how small it is!

I told Devin this is the best Mother's Day present ever! Who wants a diamond necklace as a token of affection? I guess my i pod is small enough to be a necklace. :)

Happy Mother's Day Everyone!

What Would You Do For Your Sister?

My family is pretty close. Whenever someone needs help we are there helping as much as possible. We were raised working together on all sorts of weird projects, thanks to the skating rink. I am grateful that we live close enough that we can help each other. Last week was a perfect example of this.
My sister has been in charge of the school carnival for the last few years. Each year she has asked Devin and I to help out making balloon animals. Last year she got the great idea to make the cotton candy during the day so that way they could just sell it that night. Unfortunately as she was making it in the gym at the school the fumes from the machine set the fire alarm off. (That was really funny, I was there teaching school at the time.) This year as carnival approached I could see my sister's stress level getting higher and higher. I asked what I could do to help. We then thought about the cotton candy. We came up with the idea to bring the machine over to my mom's house and I could make it and my mom could watch Anna.

Well....about 5 hours and 285 bags of cotton candy later I had to stop because it was time for the carnival to start. Can you believe that they sold out in less than an hour!!!! I guess I should have started sooner. It was fun reliving the good old days when my siblings and I would spend Saturday morning at the rink making cotton candy, pop corn, and blowing up balloons for birthday parties. Unlike then when there were four of us working together, I was glad I had my i pod to make the five hours go by quicker. I can now add to my list of weird accomplishments, "Filled up a suburban and outback full of cotton candy." or "Spent the day in a garage making cotton candy."

Oh, the funny things we do to help our siblings. What funny things have you done to help out your family?

A funny side note. As Devin and I were making balloon animals...AGAIN....at the carnival there was a lady who came up wanting our number because she was wondering if we'd come to her school carnival in the fall to make balloon animals there. I felt like saying, "Have you seen how lame our animals are? We just make it up as we go!" She still wanted our number.

6 Months Already?

Can you believe that Anna is 6 months old today? Where has the time gone? She has changed so much over the last few months. Today we went to the doctor and she was such a trooper. She got 3 shots and cried a tinny bit and that was it. I had to laugh when the doctor told me she is a little on the short side. Great, she got my height and her dad's ears. :) Anna is such a happy little girl. It doesn't take much to make her smile. Here are a few of her favorite things:

Anna loves to eat "real" food. So far she has had rice cereal, oatmeal, green beans, carrots, peas, and butternut squash. She loves them all. Her favorite part of eating is when I let her play with her sippy cup when she is all done. She loves to chew on the end of the cup. She hasn't figured out how to get any water out of it yet, but it sure is fun to swing it around and bang it on the tray.

Anna officially graduated from being swaddled to just sleeping in her crib. We figured it was time to stop swaddling her. She has done fantastic. She will play in her crib with her animals and then fall asleep. As you can see, she has a great time with her little friends.

Who wouldn't want to try and eat such cute little toes? Anna pulls her socks off any chance she gets and tries to put her toes in her mouth. She doesn't always get them quite in her mouth, but she loves just holding them.

Anna's biggest accomplishment has been sitting up by herself. WOW, how different is the day when you can sit your baby down with some toys and she just plays? Anna loves playing with her cups and balls the most. (Really anything that she can pick up and bang together, and then stick in her mouth.) She has gotten really good at passing objects from one hand to the other. We sure love her. Her smiles and her cute little laughs are the best part of the day.

How Much Have You Done?

I normally don't have anything to do with little pass-it-along blog chain things, but this one was very interesting.  If anything, it sure makes you think about all the stuff you'd like to do.

Rules: Anything you have done has to be in colored, bold, and/or underlined. How much have you done? It only takes about 5 minutes…Just do it..it's fun!
 
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
7. Been to Disneyland  (Not as many times as Disney World)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a Praying Mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched an amazing lightning storm
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning...
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Ran a Marathon (Do lots of 1/2 marathons count?)
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community 
36. Taught yourself a new language (If a mission counts)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David (It didn't say "in person" that time :)
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter 
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible (I think so)
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Visited Italy

I scored a 48 how about you?

Happily Addicted

Some girls buy shoes, I am definitely not one of those girls. I am happily addicted to music. I could listen to music all day long. I listen to all kinds of music (not rap, I HATE RAP!). People are often surprised by how many different types of music I like. When I look back on my life, different songs are like the soundtrack of my life. Music was something that was important to my dad. He was always listening to music. I have many fond memories of sitting and watching MTV videos with him as he would try to find ones that were "ok" to show at the rink. When I started earning money, I would often by tapes and then CDs. I have tons of CDs! And now you can just buy stuff on i tunes. Anyway, music just makes me smile. Lately I have spent a lot of time listening to movie soundtracks. In order for a movie to be "good" in my mind it has got to have a killer soundtrack. I love just sitting and watching the credits of a movie and listening to the soundtrack (maybe I should tell Devin that so he doesn't just skip through the credits). Some of my favorite movie soundtracks are....The Last of the Mohicans, Little Women, Far and Away, Emma, Pirates of the Caribbean, Pride and Prejudice, Anne of Green Gables, The Lord of the Rings, Finding Neverland...oh that one is really good. ....I could go on and on. Anything by Rachel Portman is FANTASTIC!!!!! Sometimes I just listen to my John Williams station on Pandora and I play name that movie.
Ok, I'm done. You get the point??? Music is my addiction. I'm always up for new favorite songs and artists. What are some of your favorite artists, songs, or soundtracks to listen to????

A Close Second

Who can forget two summers ago when the world stood still so we could all sit and read the final Harry Potter? I don't know if I'm the only one out there, but there are times when I crave a little bit of Harry Potter. You know what I'm talking about? How we counted down the days until the book was released? How you drop everything to read, read, read. Then you spend the next several weeks talking with everyone about it. I miss that. Given reading the book again is very enjoyable, but it isn't the same as the very first time you read it.
I have found a close second to Harry Potter though. Fablehaven. Last summer someone suggested this book series to us. And we've been hooked ever since. Just a few weeks ago the fourth book came out. Because we are on a budget, I went on the library's waiting list several months ago. I was actually only 5th in line. But then we were gone at Disneyland and ... long story short I finally got it, read it and finished it yesterday and was just thrilled with it. You know when you get to a point in a good book and your whole house could be burning down but you wouldn't care because you just have to find out what is going to happen? Yup, that is how this book is. Too bad Brandon Mull is an expert and cliff hangers. I just don't know how I'm going to survive until the final book comes out. But then again, we all lived waiting for the final installment of Harry Potter, so I guess I'll live.
If you haven't read any of the Fablehaven books I here by give you a homework assignment (can you tell I miss teaching school?). Read it. It is so worth you time.