the teenage brain.

Canyon and I were riding up the ski lift a few days back.
On the chair behind us were some teenagers with their shirts off,
singing at the top of their lungs.
I could tell Canyon was a little... or a lot embarrassed for them.
He told me he thought they were crazy weird.
I told him that when you become a teenager you brain goes sort of nuts.
and you end up doing crazy weird things.
He swore it would never happen to him.
And that he would never do such outrageous things with people around watching him.
I told him it seemed impossible now but in time it would probably happen.
He looked kind of scared.
I told him not to worry. For it happens to the best of us.
But....then he smiled his bashful smile and admitted that he might never be full on nuts.
But maybe part nuts...but just a little.
That sounded good to me.
I can handle part nuts... can't I?
For now I'm just grateful his brain is still 9 almost 10
and that he will still ride up the chair lift with me.
L.O.V.E.

Mix Master Lucy

{yay!...for blue skies and sunny afternoons}

Lucy wanted me to help her eat her last morsels of cereal this morning.

Me: You can do it. Your a big girl.

Lucy: I'm big. I get married.

Me: Your not big enough to get married.

Lucy: Yep...I get married.

Me: Who are are you going to marry?

Lucy: Baby Brighton. (her 6 month old cousin)

Then without hesitation she busts out in song.

Lady GaGa, Paparazzi.

Except she replaces the lyrics

Pa Pa.. Pa Paparazzi

with ... Baby... Baby Brighton.

Then she laughs at her self.

And I end up feeding her the last morsels.

She's not even old enough to know what married means.

So I guess she can still be fed.

I have a pretty good idea where she gets these things from.

1. She starts with a capitol E.

2. The radio.

It only took hearing paparazzi once waiting in the airport

to have that melody stuck in her little brain.

We make jokes she is going to be a Top 40 D.J. when she grown up.

Mix Master Lucy.

With her own scratch routines.

kissing the sunshine

I am kissing the sunshine goodnight an hour later these days and
I am not the least bit sad about it.
I may be a little more tired in the mornings but it is well worth it.
Thanks to all this beautiful light
I can already feel a little extra skip in my step.

Try not to be jealous

Of her awesome morning beauty.
She doesn't even have to use hairspray.
or a pic.

sometimes the radness of it all impairs her balance
and good judgment
So she gets a little silly.

She's got it all.
It's basically impossible to be lucky enough to have these attributes naturally.
But is something we can all certainly strive for.

3 little cubbies

I've been meaning to clean out my pantry for sometime now.
Long enough that looking at it in this shiny sparkly state is nothing short of a miracle.
It's just one of those things that you just never quite have time for.
Who has time for hours of torture?
Well it turns out it was fun for at least 3 people.
I wasn't one of them.
They called these cubbies their new bedrooms.
Then they begged me to sleep in them.
I wouldn't let them.
Heaven knows I don't need a million dollar Chiropractic bill.
Lucy got mad when she woke up the next morning.
Her cubby "bedroom" was filled with canned goods.
And I was done and if felt good. Still does.
The mr. even painted it two tones for me.
What a man.
Wow...Is this what my life has come to....blogging about pantry cleaning?
perfect.

I jinxed Spring

I think I jinxed spring when I said it was right around the corner. Because It may have been the next morning that I woke up and dragged the snow blower out of the garage to clean up 8 inches of snow that had fallen the night before. So while we weren't wearing flops this weekend we did head up to the mountain and it was a beautiful day! It's what keeps me happy and sane toward the end of a winter when I think it's almost spring and really it's not.


My little Lucy did her first runs this year riding up the chair lift. She wasn't content staying at the bottom while Canyon and Ellie went up..up..up. So we gave in to our "boss" and let her go up one day. It's pretty effortless for her really with someone controlling her speed with a harness while she waves hi to everyone she passes. She also gets to lay limp like a rag doll and eat snowballs after she falls while someone picks her up and sets her in the direction she needs to go. No wonder she gets excited to go. What's not to love? She does know how to stop on her own. It was a proud moment for both of us. Ellie has taking a liking to the "ski fast pose". The one when your knees are bent and your pulls are tucked under. I think she got that from all of our Olympic watching. She is learning to snowboard this year and is doing SO good! Sometimes she has a hard time deciding if she should be a skier or snowboarder for the day. She looks pretty cute riding down on that little pink snowboard of hers...but she is still faster on skis. Canyon is SO much fun to ride with this year. No holding back he can do the whole mountain. He has been trying a few new tricks in the park and his backside board slides on the rails are looking pretty good. Way to go Canyon! I am looking forward to some sunny spring riding days where the snow is practically like riding in mashed potatoes. I love those days... don't know why..I just do.

snow castles

Ta da!
When you can't quite make it to the beach.
You improvise.
It seems I am always ready for the next season.
It was warm enough to run outside today.....It felt good and springy ahhhhhh.
I have a feeling it's right around the corner.
Then we can use sand instead of snow.
And ride our bikes until 10:00 at night.
That's the best.

You can't touch this

"The hottest new trend for Spring"

At least that is what the TV told me the other day.

Why...oh why?

I couldn't help but be afraid. I was very afraid.

Has society not learned it's lessons from fashion disasters of the past?

But really, can they be flattering on even the hottest of women?

I saw Rihanna wearing them. It still didn't do it for me.

Putting all my prejudices aside

there are some big time benefits we should all consider.

I guess if you ever need to wear a diaper you'll still be lookin golden.

And who doesn't? I've almost peed my pants plenty of times.

I have funny friends and family.

Sliding into your "skinny pants" after pregnancy....piece of cake.

Carmel Christmas Cakes and French Fries. Bring. It. On.

And seriously can you imagine all the stuff you could store in those britches.

That's why all the pretty ladies in the picture only need clutches.

Maybe I am just old.

An old lady.

But I just don't think I can ever do down this road.

I will be the old unstylish lady.

Over time I have learned NEVER...SAY NEVER.

But hopefully

It's never Hammer time.

for me.

P.S. If anyone I know has some of these in their closet anxiously awaiting spring. I'm sorry . I love you. I hope they are like the one's in the last picture though. They are way better than the other two. Just sayin.

love day frozen style

Valentine's day {2010}

Heart shaped pancakes for breakfast.

a little relaxation

a lot of Olympics

Paper airplanes

Valentine watercolor paintings

And then out for some fresh air and blue skies.

An adventure on ice.

Exploring out on a frozen lake...again.

It's not the first time.

But it's been a while.

This time it was missing all the ice fisherman.

My guess is that their wives don't like them to ice fish on Valentines.

We got to look down those dark ice fish holes.

The kids thought there would be something amazing down there.

There was nothing.

Canyon stepped through the ice in the first 10 minutes.

perfect.

He still wanted to stay.

Thankfully.

Lucy just wanted to go faster....always faster.

Then we discovered this.

Way better than an ice fish hole!

Everyone wanted a turn.

Youngest to Oldest (in the picture)

Lucy

Ellie

Canyon

Me

Shane?

I'm still kind of mad we didn't get a picture of the him....geez.

Don't Canyon and Ellie look like their tippy toeing on those mountain tops?

How come I'm not higher in my picture? Life's not fair sometimes.

Ellie had hearts on the brain.

She has declared Valentine her favorite holiday EVER.

Canyon broke as much ice as humanly possible.

Lucy, well she just thinks she is big stuff.

I wished I would have packed some sugar cookies.

But then again I thought that about where ever we went for a week straight.

Phew... glad we shipped most of those off.

It was a super Valentine Day.

Love all around.

I love this little family of mine.

bunches and bunches.

be mine.....forever.

{my little valentines 2010}

Broken

My poor computer has been out of commision now for a week now. Hopefully in a couple of days it will be back to it's old self. I have really been missing it lately. Using the mr's cell phone at night to check my e-mail just isn't cutting it anymore wahhhhh! I have pictures I want to post and stuff I want to write maybe soon .... Maybe soon. That is what I am crossing my fingers for. Typing on this liitle screen hurts my eye balls. So until then goodbye.

hello love

Love day is right around the corner.
love. LOVE. love.
I feel to lucky to have found it.
It's a wonderful thing.
So is this sweet little love story.
About what a little girl dreams about.
I think it's what most people dream about.
I know it's what fills my dreams.
Having a love story as long and beautiful as this.

A SHORT LOVE STORY IN STOP MOTION from Carlos Lascano on Vimeo.

ellie and talia

A little while ago our cousins came for a visit.
So while the boys spent time practicing their kick flips at the skate park
The girls set up a salon and got ready for a little photo shoot.
It was a lot of fun to see them really letting loose and showing me all their {creative} modeling skills.
I have to hand it to them. They were pretty amazing.

{Ellie and Talia}

month of love

February is here.
The month of LOVE.
To celebrate I am going to.
Buy lots of candy hearts.
Make some heart garland.
Bake dozens of cookies.
Go on at least one date.
Write some love letters.
Hug my loved ones a little tighter
And stare at each of them a bit longer.
Taking in those little moments
you don't ever want to forget but still manage to slip away.
I need to do that more.

{snowmobiling, January 2010}

Today. 2 years ago.

These are still some of my most favorite pictures of these two girls.
When I looked back to see what was going on 2 years ago.
These photos were just staring at me.....making my heart happy.
Ellie told me this is the prettiest picture of Lucy she has ever seen.
Back then I was hoping they would always love each other as much as this day.
They do... plus a million times more.

In their own words.

Ellie: "Mom I am lucky I always have a friend that never goes home"

Lucy: Every day when Ellie leaves for school she says " I love you Ellie, I love you Ellie" following her to the door....every. single. day.

lost twice

Ellie lost her first tooth. It was just hanging on by one little thread for so long that when it came out she didn't realize it until she went to give it a wiggle and it was gone. She wanted the tooth fairy to understand the predicament she was in so she wrote this. And then drew about 2 dozen flowers to sweeten the deal.

Ellie still has high hopes of finding her little lost tooth. She thinks when Spring time comes and the snow melts it will turn up on the school playground somewhere. I don't want to be the one to crush those dreams of hers but I just don't see that happening.

p.s. the tooth fairy fully understood the situation and even threw in an extra quarter for the lovely bouquet.

These three monkeys spend a lot of winter nights pulling out the sleeping bags and going for bumpy rides down the stairs. I don't know how they talk Lucy into these things but they do. Sometimes the stunts they pull going down and the speeds that are reached make it hard for me to watch. Like the time they went down with Canyon Laying on his belly and Ellie and Lucy riding him like a horse. Each time the bags get pulled out I hold my breath hoping there are sounds of life after the thudding stops. Every time I think of telling them to stop, I remember how much fun I had doing this when I was little. I just don't remember going down such crazy ways. So far we are 100% accident free. I'll be crossing my fingers it stays that way.

the little inventor

It is no secret that Ellie has quite the imagination.
It is also well known that Ellie has a love for fashion.
Add that to her ideas that Teenagers are SO beautiful
(probably because the few she knows are)
And what do you get?
Ellie's new invention.
It's called the underwear bra.
Made out of two pair of underwear.
She must of wanted a bra really..really bad to strum up this idea.
She wore it for a weekend straight.
When Monday rolled around I told her she could NOT wear it to school.
She reluctantly agreed.
I still can't wrap my mind around how that witty little brain of hers thought of this.
If it wasn't borderline one the the weirdest things in the world.
I would have to call it a stroke of genius.
Nobody tell Victoria about it. We are totally patenting this :)

{For the record, some major bribery took place to get this picture}
{I figured this brilliant invention needed to be recorded in the books at any cost}
{Someday she will thank me...maybe?}

milk shampoo

While I was putting away the dishes I heard Lucy's little voice say...
"Look Mom I washa my hair" (with no R sound on the end).
I looked over to see her putting her whole hand into in her cup of milk
followed by rubbing it in hair real good.
And that's when her hair looked like this.
I asked her why.
She told me the same thing she always does when I ask her a question... "CUZ"
Awesome.
And because she just had a bath 15 minutes before even more so.

calendar

I need a new calendar in a hurry.

Any one of these would do.
Maybe I should just make one.
Or better yet, enlist my husband to do it for me.
It would turn out much better than mine. :)
I think the first one is my favorite.
Wondering if I have a wall to suit it.
The wall space above my computer perhaps....hmmmmm.

bird legs

This morning for breakfast she had.

2 bowls of cereal.
2 bowls of apple sauce.
1 egg.

She can eat with the best of them.



Yet somehow she manages to maintain these little bony bird legs of hers.

At 2 and a half years she is weighing in at 23 lbs and some ounces.
Just a little gal....with a BIG appetite.
She can finish off a cheeseburger in about 1 minute.....I swear it.

sort of missing

the excitement...the energy...the magic...that feeling that only comes once a year.
But my house is clean again, and it is kind of nice to spend a few full days at home.
I am still wishing there was something really fun (but simple) written on the calendar under January to look forward to.
I need to work on that.

2010

Happy New Year!!! Am I to late to say it?
We started off the new year in a place remote and removed from any form of communication to the outside world.
I have had a hard time getting back into the swing of things since January has hit....ok maybe since Dec 25th hit.
But up until the 4th of January it felt o.k. It doesn't any more...BOOOOO!
Here's to 2010!! May it be better than 2009 because lets face it no one wants it to be worse...always better!
Here's to hoping I survive January. It can be a downer after a beautiful December.
I'm wishing for some big snowflakes, time on my snowboard, and some spontaneous fun...but I would settle for planned fun to.
I'm already thinking I should have left a strand of lights of just to brighten things up a little.

Merry Christmas

Our Christmas season was merry, bright and packed with memorable events that make it the "holidays". Lucy tried to plant a big kiss on Santa's lips at the local library Christmas party. Needless to say she was NOT afraid of the jolly old man. Canyon got a Christmas miracle when he woke up to a upgraded i-pod from the one he asked for.At least that is what he called it "Ellie this is a Christmas miracle". Ellie as been rockin out to Band Hero all the day long. Her Choice Love song by Taylor Swift. Christmas has went by WAY WAY to fast this year. My house is still trashed with Christmas paraphernalia strewn about and I haven't done much to remedy that because it makes it still seem like Christmas a little longer.I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas season as well!

p.s. We were Christmas card slackers once again 2 years in a row....kind of pathetic. Hopefully next year we will be one the card wagon again. So Merry Christmas to you from us!

if only it were Christmas carols I got to listen to

Lately I get hear the sobbing cries of a 2 year old kicked up a couple of notches through a fisher price microphone. It is just her way of trying to outsmart me. She must know I send her to her room so the door and walls will somewhat mute the unpleasant noise that is pouring out from her little body. So she tries to makes it impossible to ignore by amplifying it with the good old fisher price. And sometimes if she wants you to feel really bad for her she gets her microphone sits in the same room as you facing the wall with her and cries away. You know she is faking it when her cries are half songs and you can make out some rhythm. It has been far to entertaining for the whole family to take the Fisher Price away. Little does she know her crafty plan is backfiring on her.

Christmas lights

I think Christmas lights are about the best little things in the world. The only reason shorter days in the winter time make since...to plug the Christmas lights in sooner. Can you imagine celebrating Christmas time without those glittery lights in the backdrop? They make everything better. I need more.

*photos out of the our archives of Christmas past 2007*

all that white stuff

When all that white stuff falls from the sky for the first time of the season.

A nine year old has big plans.
Did Canyon want his after school snack? NO!
He wanted to put on his snow gear as quickly as possible.
Then he disappeared into the snowy streets and fields to find the biggest snow bank around.
When it got dark, I begin to worry a little. It is dark. It is bitter cold.
He little bones must be frozen. Why isn't he home yet?
Maybe he is wondering around the dark streets delusional from hypothermia
or maybe he is waiting for help with his tongue stuck to a pole.
Yes, those answers are both much more logical and likely than having to much fun
in sub zero temperatures to notice it was getting very dark and late.
Eventually, he and his winter pal were tracked down by the headlights of a car.
(and it was not mine. I could not muster up the will to leave the warm house.)
They were found playing on that "biggest snowbank around" lit up by street lights without a care in the world.
When he found his way home I told him I was worried he was freezing to death.
He informed me that his body is a "winter body" and does not get cold easily.
Then in the next breath he asks for some hot chocolate and hot tub.
I guess to warm up that not very cold infamous winter body of his.

Cheers, The winter season is officially now upon us.

the great Christmas give away.

There is a great Christmas give away out there in blog land. I love this idea! You enter for someone else who could use the gift more than yourself. To enter you leave a comment describing who you would give the gift to and why. Be prepared to be truly humbled and feel extremely BLESSED as you read the comments of others describing who they would like to win the gift for and the hardships they face (I know I did). If you know someone out there who a simple gift could make their Holiday extra special go here and enter for them! There will be a new give away every 2 days. Tis the Season!

Happy Holidays Everyone!!

Thankful for Zions

We spent our Thanksgiving holiday in Zions with our cox side family. Man, I love that place! Beautiful hikes during the day followed by a big turkey dinner at night. Lots of hot tubbin underneath a star filled sky and UNO until it was so late your vision blurred and you had to wear a home-made saucer anti-itch dog collar and act like a bull dog. (that was one of the winner makes the rules...rule.) On the way home the holiday season was in the air with the roads packed with cars filled with families. I was a little jealous of the lucky families that had Christmas trees tied to the top of their car. It just seemed so festive. The perfect thing to bring home from a Thanksgiving holiday.
**note to self: Next year don't come home without a tree tied to the top.**