Fall Pics 2010

Here are our fall pics for this year. We went on a drive to Bountiful and found this nice park. I can't remember the name, I think it started with an m. It was nice; trails to walk, tables to eat at, and it was so pretty with all the fall leaves. We plan on going back to picnic there.

Marlene came with us and helped with the pictures. I set us up, set the camera up, and she shot it. It makes it easier than having to use the timer and run!


Corrine would not stand in the right place for this pic, but it still turned out cute!



Sillies!





This is the only picture of Corrine by herself that I took. Oops!


Payden

Michaela

Ava

Our angels

We had a good time. Ava and Payden collected leaves and made artwork with them when the came home. Yeah for fall!

What do you think?

I got this bird statue at a yard sale a couple of weeks ago. I fell in love with it. The lady said it is "really old". I don't know about that, but it looks old. It is all crackled, and the colors look old. Jason thought it was ugly, but I said trust me, it will look awesome at home. I got it for two bucks! I just love it.

It looks perfect on our mantle. Just the right colors.

So. What do you think? It it cool, or ugly? (You won't offend me, I like it and thats all that matters!) For the record, when I got it home and put it on the mantle, Jason grudingly admitted it looked good there. So, weigh in!

Those big blue eyes

Remember in my last post the bit about Ava getting a cheeto gift from an admiring little boy? It seems that not only little boys are struck by her big blue puppy dog eyes. We have been hitting yard sales the last few weeks, and this weekend we took the kids with us. At one, Ava was coveting a stuffed elephant and a littler one just like it. They wanted too much for it, plus she was kind of throwing a fit so I told her no. I put her and the others in the car, and went back to offer on something else they had. The man running the yard sale took my offer, and as I paid him, he reached down and grabbed the two stuffed elephants, handed them to me, and said," Here, you can have these for your little girl. It looked like she really wanted them." It was so sweet, and a testimony for me of the kindness of people. I had her tell the man thank you. At the next yard sale, she picked up a purse and asked if she could have it. I asked how much it was, and the lady looks at Ava and says she can have it for free. Huh. We are having trouble coming up with a down payment for a house here....I wonder if I should take her to meet our lender and builder......

Cherry Hill

A few weeks ago, we went to a water park close to us call Cherry Hill. We had so much fun! They have a few slides, a lazy river, a tube ride, a kiddie pool and two regular pools. These are cell phone pics, so sorry about the quality.

Corrine got brave enough to jump in! She would stand on the side, and jump in. I would let her go in up to her eyebrows, and she didn't seem to mind. Since then, she has even been putting her face in the bathwater and holding her breath. Seems like we have another fish!

She used Ava's froggy, because Ava doesn't need it anymore. Ava was swimming around all over the place, face in the water, jumping in the deep end, truly a little swimmer! At first Corrine was cautious with the froggy. It was a bit too big for her, and she didn't figure out right away how to hold herself up in it. After about 1/2 an hour though, she was a pro and didn't want me holding on to her. She would kick herself around the pool happy as a clam!

Here is Ava swimming.

Payden took Corrine down the little slide, she didn't much care for it.



Taking a break, having a snack! Ava got her first gift from an admirer at the park. She was sitting down, and a little boy about two came up to her and just stared at her. Then he handed her a cheeto. Kind of like, "Hey pretty lady, how about a cheeto?" Kind of cute!

Ava and Jason going down the tube ride.

This was SO FUNNY to watch. Notice in the above picture there is a pool in between the slides, and sometimes you can get stuck there. (I did.) Well, Michaela did too. She was stuck there for so long, that she decided to take matters into her own hands and get out of her tube, move it closer to the slide, and get back in. Her tube had other ideas though, and escaped after a struggle and took off on its own. So Michaela had to slide down on her own! She actually kind of slipped down accidently, so it made it even more funny.

Payden on the tube ride.

Me and Ava on the tube ride.

Me and Ava again.

Payden swimming!

Michaela swimming!

Corrine being cute.

Ava in the kiddie pool.



I know I will regret posting this, but I want to be recorded for posterity!

Corrine actually kept that hat on almost the whole time we were there, and I was glad for that. It was a hot sunny day.

Ava going down the kiddie slide.

They also had two bigger slides that I didn't get pictures of, and Ava was so brave she went down it with me. She was so cute, I was saying WOOO HOOO so she shakily said it too, then realized it was fun and some genuine shouts came out. We had a blast, and will definetely go next year!

Not just yet...

This was just too cute not to share!

Random Things

Jason brought these home for me the other day. He read my post on being frustrated about the number of hours in a day and he wanted to let me know he thought I was a wonder woman as well. Isn't that sweet? I thought so. Brownie points for Jason!



Ava and I made rice crispy treats, and we ate them while they were still warm and goey. Corrine had a problem with this. She said to me, "Mommy, my fingers stuck!" She was very concerned about her fingers covered in messy rice crispies. It was funny.

I hunkered down to cuddle my kitty, and Jason and the kids thought it looked like I had a tail.

And this sight warmed my heart; I walked into the room to find Ava and Corrine sitting very close and cuddling while they watched tv. I am so glad my girls love each other.

How do you do it?

Ok, I want to know.

I go into other womens' homes that are clutter free, cute and clean.

Organized, vacuumed, no laundry on the couch.

I can do this and often do, but its at the expense of other things I WANT to be doing.

Things like playing with my kids, quilting, crafting, exercising, reading, baking, etc.

If I choose even ONE activity listed above, everything else gets neglected. I may end up with a nice new craft or stronger muscles, but there is the blasted laundry on my couch waiting to be folded (if it was even lucky enough to get washed in the first place).

Sooooo, how do you do it? Are there just women out there who are better at time management than me? Do they just not sleep? Do they have more cooperative kiddos? Cause it feels like my head is spinning when I try to do everything, and I feel hopelessly inept.

It feels like I SHOULD be able to exercise and clean the house in one day, but I can't. I guess if I got up at 6am and exercised before my kiddos got up, that would help, but when that alarm goes off I just keep hitting snooze.

So. Am I just lazy, or do I have poor time management, or is this something other women struggle with as well?

And how do those women who seem to have it all together DO it?

Does anyone know?