Just like Dad

How cute does she look in her little robe and slippers?! The slippers are too big, but she loves them so she wears them with socks and I tape them on! She sleeps in them so her feet won't get cold when she goes to the bathroom. Smart thinking!!

See that paper airplane she's holding? Jer made that on Monday and she plays with it every day. It flies way better than the ones I make.
This is a cute book we checked out from the library. Jeremy hadn't seen it so Savannah decided to show it to him. "Dad look at this funny book. It's called Those Damn Birds!" Wonder where she gets that from? I thought Jeremy might pee his pants he laughed so hard.

If you look closely you'll see my pretty flowers in the background. Jer surprised me with them earlier in the week. He also got some pink ones for Annie. She was so excited. Super sweet!

It's About Time

I am finally taking the time to post some pics!

First the birthday:

Savannah was so happy to have her friends come celebrate with her. Although she did have a meltdown when she didn't win musical chairs.

I tried my hand at twisting balloons - swords for the boys and flowers for the girls. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

Here is the giant cupcake cake. I wasn't as impressed with it as the people on TV. However, I think my Starburst shapes turned out really cute. The kids loved them!

Can you believe I paid $5 for a card?!? It plays a song from the first Tinkerbell movie and was worth every penny! She can sing the song now and it is so cute.

This is what Savannah wears everyday. She puts on the dress and tiara right after she gets dressed and won't take it off. We go shopping and to the library like this. She's little enough that people think she's cute instead of crazy.

Notice the beauty mark she drew on her cheek? I asked her who she was trying to be like and she said Charlotte on Princess and the Frog. Very observant girl.

Annie loves going to preschool and I am amazed at what she has learned. She can actually read the little books she bring home from school! She is forever drawing pictures and hanging them up all over the house. I couldn't be any prouder of her. Oh, and she has moved out of my bed and into a little bed of her own on our floor! Baby steps...

I will leave you with our conversation from last night:

"If I had a baby brother and he was crying, I would just pick him up from his crib and feed him a bottle. Then he wouldn't cry anymore." (She talks about a baby brother frequently.)

"Mom, why don't you have another baby?"

"I don't know. Maybe that's something we can pray about. Do you know who is going to have a baby? Jacob's mom."

"She should give us that baby."

If only it were that easy!

Merry Christmas and see you soon!

Sweet girl

I will post birthday pics eventually, but in the mean time I leave you with this story.

I pulled out the Christmas decorations this week including Savannah's pink tinsel tree. She was very excited. We took it in her room and plugged it in. She immediately said, "I'm going to pray." I kind of ignored her. She started to walk out of the room, but turned back and said, "Shall we pray?" I said sure. She climbed on her bed and said a prayer asking Heavenly Father to make sure she could keep her tree. I don't know what made her think to do it, but I found it really sweet.

Thinking like a three year-old

Savannah just asked me "How do fish poop?" I told her to ask her dad!

Let's ride!

We went to a dry lakebed just outside of Boulder City to ride quads yesterday and I actually had fun! It was beautiful weather and the terrain was very beginner friendly. We rode for a while and then had a picnic in the park in Boulder. It was a great way to spend the day.

Of course Savannah loved driving her own gas-powered quad. She scared us a few times, but she got the hang of it and rode very well. I was such a proud mama!

"Mom, I have to tell you something."

"What?"

"I think something."

"What do you think?"

"I think riding is the best!"

Could she be any cuter!?! Hope your Saturday was as good as mine.

Growing Up

"You can go now." That is what Savannah said to me as she walked into preschool today and just like that dismissed me from her life. I'm not going to lie, I love having a few hours to myself, but does she have to be so eager to be free of me too? We just had dinner as a family and then Annie did her homework at the table (she is a genius just like her mother.) I hope she is this sweet about doing "real" homework when the time comes. I can't believe how big she is. I am getting old.
We spent the weekend in Flagstaff four-wheeling with a bunch of Ruff's friends. Savannah was in heaven! She picked a million flowers, went for walks in the woods, and got filthy with her new friends. When I asked what her favorite part of the trip was, she said "the bubbles". Go figure!

Savannah and I held hands and walked to the mailbox last night. Out of the blue my sweet girl says, "Mom do you know why I love you? Because I like you." I don't know what I'd do without her. I wish I could bottle up the sweet moments and save them forever.

It has been three weeks since I began this post, so now I will just add a few pics and call it done.

I found Savannah munching on a cookie and looking at every book in the toyroom. I don't know why she looks so grumpy.
The Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. Very cool to do (with a coupon).
That's me rock climbing at Lake Powell! Someone had to see where that rope went.Heavy rain in Page caused this huge waterfall. It was amazing!
This is sweet Aden that has been staying with us.

And last but definitely not least, we have trees! Twelve of them including four fruit trees. Hopefully in a few years we'll have shade.

See you soon!

Help me!!!

Yes, Savannah is cute and funny, but she is going to be the death of me!!! She is the queen of "no", using all the tape in the house and shouting for no reason.

If we make it to her fourth birthday, let alone her wedding day, it will be a miracle!

But, she does something funny and "abracadabra!", I forget that she's a pain in the butt. I can't stay mad for long when her Dad comes home and does "spider hair". A lifetime ago we went to Lake Powell (at least it feels that way). Of course, Savannah loved it. She couldn't get enough of the tube. Every time we got in the boat, she asked to ride on it. When the big boys chickened out, she hopped right on!
And after Powell came the family reunion. Here is one of the few quiet moments in the motorhome while driving to Oregon. Now that I think of it, why didn't Sherie have to take her turn in there???

Here is the happy girl before she was almost washed away. She still talks about it.

Of course a ride on the merry-go-round made it all better.

Annie had lots of fun playing with her cousins on the beach until Luke dumped her fishies out. Yes, she is still talking about that too.

Jer missed her terribly, but she filled him in on all the happenings.
Last weekend we went to Flagstaff with the Ruffs. This picture doesn't even do justice to the dirt. I ended up throwing this shirt away!It looks like Savannah has the same problem as some of her aunts when she is away from home. I got tired of sitting in the bathroom with her so I just put her potty outside. She sat there for at least twenty minutes and still nothing, but she enjoyed herself.

Now we're back home and she has no one to play with again. She plays with playdough a lot and tosses her dollies in the air constantly. I'm not sure what's so fun about that, but it keeps her occupied.

She has suddenly taken an interest in choosing her own clothes and hair accessories. She picked red sparkly barrettes this day so she would "be special". Then she chose this dress and said, "Don't I look fabulous?"

This post has taken me hours to put together, so I have calmed down now. We were just outside flying Savannah's new kite and now she is stapling away at her desk. Let's hope tomorrow is a little easier than today.

Surprise!!

Here I am, two months late and two dollars short. I'm not sure what I've been up to, but it obviously hasn't been blogging. I'll throw a bunch of pictures at you and some funny stories and hope you forgive me for my absence.

Faster daddy, faster! You can't believe how big this helmet is. I don't know how she can even hold her head up!

Holly, Tyler and the kids joined us for Easter. The kids had so much fun riding quads out back and of course, dying eggs.Savannah was so excited to get her "raymonica." She played lots of beautiful music for us "just like on American Idol."

Uh-oh! Caught in the act. Annie got hold of some stuffing and made a mountain which she then decorated with flowers. So creative!Isn't she cute?! Here I attempted to get a picture of her sore neck. For about three days she couldn't turn her head. We felt so bad for her, but it was funny to watch her turn her whole body when we called her name.
Weird science!
Have I told you how smart and imaginative Savannah is? She put these boxes on her feet and walked around for a few minutes. Then she went to the pantry and got the swiffers and told me she was "skiboarding." The next day she got her blocks and the coaster and asked to play the game like at Cici's Pizza. It took me a minute to realize she wanted to play air hockey. Super smart!
Here is Savannah with her friends at Lake Mojave last weekend. That is my style of offroading!And after all that fun, the angel fell asleep.

I guess we have been pretty busy. Sorry to stay gone so long. I'll at least try to take more pictures in the future.

Progress

Savannah slept in her bed all night last night! She came in my room at 4:00 and asked if I would lay with her for a few minutes which I did. She didn't come back in our room 'til 7:00! Tonight I read her two stories and left the room and I haven't heard from her since. Thanks Kidman family for having a routine we can follow!

Finally catching up

FYI - I started this post before I went to Salt Lake and I'm not changing it now.

Let me start by saying I am glad the Olympics are over. I loved watching them, but I didn't go to bed 'til 1:00 every night and I'm still trying to catch up on my sleep. Savannah even liked them and would say she wanted to do each sport she saw. I am fine with skiing and skating, but I draw the line at bobsledding. Also, did anyone else notice that Canada rocks?! Each time their national anthem played, not only did the athletes sing, the entire audience sang along. I didn't notice any group singing when we hosted the Olympics. Get with the program America!

Jeremy gave Savannah this little camp chair and a card for Valentine's Day. She loved them! The card sings "My Girl" and Jer recorded a little message on it too. Annie listened to it a million times. How much longer will she be satisfied with the little things?

No, Jer didn't have the chicken pox. Annie decorated his face with her gem stickers and then they both fell asleep.

Here's Savannah cruising on her quad at Lake Havasu. We went with the Ruffs and the kids had so much fun chasing each other on the quads and jeeps. Annie is a little dare devil when she drives, but it doesn't cross over to the slide.

Here's a glimpse of the playroom after Luke, Annie and Ike stormed through. It's so nice to be able to just close the door!

And here is a pic of my little "artistac." I don't know what that means, but Savannah always says it when she is painting. She was obsessed with using her easel and paints for a few days and I love the paintings she made but not enough to save them. I know I am evil, but I can't stand to have papers lying everywhere. I'll start saving the pictures when I can really tell what she has painted.

It was so nice to see everyone this past week. Thanks for visiting and crafting with me and for entertaining my daughter. (I said goodnight to her at 9:00 and left Jer to read her a story. He has yet to come out of her room. I told you he would have a hard time with the bedtime ritual.) A HUGE thanks to Sherie and Clark for letting me interrupt their week. Love and miss you all and can't wait to have you visit us!