It's Autumn Time!!

"It's Autumn time, It's Autumn time, the leaves are falling down!"

And we have a WHOLE lot of leaves falling down! So even the littlest help with the raking! Although we didn't have another rake so Bethany went and grabbed a broom! Funny little girl!

And of course fall means picking out the perfect pumpkin!

And carving them!

And of course dressing up!!

And Trunk or Treat!

Happy Halloween!!

"Body Language"

This week I was totally reminded of this clip from the little mermaid. Tabitha came home from school with a behavioral report card.-It is a new report card system the school has started. She got some really great comments and is doing well but when I got to her last comment I could not help but laugh and think of this clip.

"The one area Tabitha can improve on a little is the visibility with her body language when she is angered. She truly wears her feelings on the outside and we want to make sure that she remains collected when she does get irritated with any given situation."

Now, this comment made me not only laugh but it also made me proud. I thought, "Lady if you only knew how FAR this child has come." A year ago she would have not only given you body language but she would have also been yelling and screaming while doing so. She is finally at a place where she can huff and puff on the inside even if she is showing it on the outside -and that is HUGE in my house! Am I going to have her work on keeping herself "collected"? No. Because I think have her as "collected as she can ever get and I kind of like how I know by just looking at her what her mood is. There is no guessing with that one! And maybe we should all be a little more like that and "never underestimate the importance of BODY LANGUAGE! "

September madness

A lot has been going on in September! I thought I should catch up on all the latest happenings! A big event in our home was Emma turning 8! She had her birthday on a Thursday and then that following Saturday she was baptized! We are so proud of our Emma Lou!

A lot of special people came to support her! Here she is with her Great Grandma she was named after-Grandma Lou Jean.

Great Grandma Fale made the trip too. We were SO lucky to have both of Anthony's Grandmas here!

My parents came. And so did Anthony's but I am REALLY sad to say I have no pictures with her and the other grandparents. In fact I didn't really take that many pictures at all so if anyone else would like to share any they took I would really appreciate it!

Many more people came for Emma and I am so thankful to all the family that came and showed their love. It made the day even more special for all of us! I will always remember this wonderful day and how beautiful and happy Emma was. The spirit was so strong and it strengthened my testimony of the gospel and of our Savior.

Tabitha also had a birthday this month. She turned 6! She started kindergarten this year and was really excited to celebrate her birthday at school. They sang happy birthday to her and she got to bring in a treat for the class. Of course my Tabitha can't choose the normal cupcakes. Instead she wanted me to make....

Chocolate covered strawberries! It was my first time making them and I think they turned out pretty good!

And the last big surprise for September is that we are expecting baby number 4! We are all excited and nervous for baby to come in early February-(not september!) And even though Anthony hasn't admitted it I am thinking he has to be EXTRA excited since it is a BOY!!! Who would have thought there would ever be a little boy in our family?!

Happy 1st Birthday!

WOW! It has been a year since Bethany was born! We cannot image our life without this blonde, blue-eyed little girl! We love you Bethany Lauren! Happy birthday!

First day of school

First day of school was last week! Emma started 2nd grade and Tabitha started Kindergarten! What big girls we have. I hope it is a good year for both of them!

Since Tabitha went to school one day for orientation and the other was her first "real" day I put in both pictures

.

Love these girls!

New pictures

We got a new camera last week. So here are some updated pictures of the girls and part of what they have been doing this summer. I was playing with the settings so some of them may look a little different.

Emma loves to read anytime anywhere to anybody! I couldn't resist putting theses pics in!

Dunk Tank

We had a church activity on Saturday at the park. They had a dunk tank there. Emma wanted to be dunked so of course we let her! For some reason I cannot get my video to download so instead here are some pics...

Emma getting ready-she was a little nervous.

Tabitha, of course, wanted to be the first to throw!

AND SHE GOT HER!

What a good sport! She even did it again and again!

Time flies

Today I took Bethany to her 9 month appointment. I cannot believe how fast the time has gone. We are so thankful for little Boo(what her sisters call her) in our lives. She is the happiest kid ever. Always has a big smile on her face. This girl keeps me busy but it is only because this girl LOVES life! To her life is GREAT!

Smiles!

Peek-a-boo is her favorite! Where did Bethany go?

Loves being outside!

Even the dishes are GREAT!

Love her!

Memorial Day

I was looking forward to Memorial weekend because we all had four days off together. Of course it was the weekend that Anthony and I got the flu. YUCK. However, at least on Monday we were feeling somewhat human again and were able to venture out so that the kids could have some fun. We went to a playground and rode bikes.

Tabitha took off her training wheels and did great! Daddy was there to help of course!

We also had fun swinging on the swings!

And playing on the toys!

A girl and her Easter Friend

I have a confession. I get jealous this time of year. I get jealous when I go on line and see people's pictures that they post of their little girls on Easter Sunday in matching outfits with their hair done really cute. They seem to have perfect smiles on their sweet little faces.

This will never be my girls or my pictures. I have to walk by the cute dresses at the store because if I bought them I would just end up wasting my money. Sure Emma LOVES to dress up cute and fancy but not Tabitha. And if I bought Emma a dress and not Tabitha then I would look like I have favorites. I joke with Anthony every Sunday that it looks like we dress Emma up like a princess and keep Tabs in rags. It probably looks to the outside world that Emma is our favorite. But really and truly it is not my fault. Tabitha absolutely HATES dressing up. Sunday is a struggle. And so here was my Easter Sunday...

Emma all dressed up from her head to her toes...(well, minus the shoes right now) and Tabitha...Oh wait she is not in this picture because she was too busy being grumpy because she was wearing a skirt. Yup that is my life.

Bethany was pretty sick today so she had an excuse for not dressing up but I did put a bow on her and take a quick picture...(just don't look to close or you will notice all the snot and drool on her shirt.)

As for Tabitha...I didn't even make her wear a fancy dress I let her wear a skirt and an old t-shirt somewhat covered by a sweater. I did manage to get a headband in her hair-but she never returned home from church with it. I tried to convince her for 5 minutes to get into a picture with her sisters to make me happy but she refused. Instead she sat sulking on the porch.

Then when I was finishing up Emma's photo session she came up to me with a smile on her face (first smile I had seen since she put on the skirt) and said, "MOM! I found a Roley Poly bug! Can you take a picture of me with my new Easter friend?"

It was then I stopped caring about putting my girls in cute Easter dresses with hair done perfectly. It was then that I was reminded that Easter wasn't about that. It is about LIFE! (even one as small as a Roley Poly) About HAPPINESS! About our SAVIOR who made those two things and so much more possible.

I will be forever grateful for the gentle reminder from a stubborn little girl and her new Easter friend.

Peek a Boo!

Love Her!

My new favorite place...

My new favorite place...The BEACH. The cousins had fun, I had fun-I think we all had fun! It was just nice to get away and watch the girls make memories together!

Brag Post

Disclaimer: This post is me bragging about my girls. You have been warned so if you wish-read on...

Baby Bethany is now 6 months old and getting bigger and smarter and cuter every day. She sits up now and is working on getting up on her knees. She is also giving out kisses when you ask! They are pretty slobbery though! It is amazing how smart this little girl is. And what she already has figured out! She brings us much joy with her smiles and laughter. She just adores her big sisters-she lights up whenever they are around or playing with her. We just love our 'Baby Bethany', 'Beth', 'Bethers', 'Bea,' and cute blue-eyed 'screaming monster.' (Just a few of the names her sisters call her)

Tabitha is such a loving and sweet big sister. She stays at home with us and is such a good happy little helper. Her and baby sure have bonded. It sure will be fun to see what great things she teaches her! I know that when the fall comes Bethany will be missing her big sis. Tabitha is SUPER excited to start school. We just registered her for Kindergarten and she is counting down the days! She also has her VERY FIRST wiggly tooth! This has made her whole week! What a sweet growing girl!

I just went to Parent /Teacher conference yesterday for Emma. I was SO proud of Emma. Her teacher had nothing but praises to give about her. Her teacher said, "She treats everyone with respect and helps others in her class. She SURE is a little mommy." We all knew that though! :) She also said she had to test all the kids to see where they were at with there reading and math and she said, "I stopped testing her on reading when we got to the end of a 4th grade level. So I have no idea where she really is but she breezed right through all of those books." She truly is our smart little girl! She will be turning 8 this year and it is AMAZING how much I see her maturing! She sure has come a long way in even just a year!

I am very thankful for my 3 girls. How blessed I feel to be their "Mama."

Dr. Seuss and Funny girls

"From there to here,

from here to there,

funny things

are everywhere."

-Dr. Seuss

In honor of Dr. Seuss day coming up this week I started reading some of his books to my sweet girls last night. We read "There's a Wocket in my Pocket" which starts out, "Did you ever have a feeling there's a WASKET in your BASKET? ...Or a NUREAU in your BUREAU?...Or a WOSET in your CLOSET?" After reading this Tabitha replied-very seriously, "Well, I didn't want to say anything but sometimes I really do think that."

After that book we read "One Fish Two fish Red fish Blue Fish." Emma cracked me up after I read, "It is fun to sing if you sing with a Ying." There is a picture of the Ying and a boy singing in a shower and she said, "Did you know that even people who can't sing good can sound good if they sing in the shower? And I know why. It is because they have back up music...the sound of the drip drip from the shower, the whooshing of the water and you can use your shampoo bottle as your microphone!"

LOVE THESE GIRLS!

Latest Happenings

This past week my parents came for a visit and while they were here we celebrated my mom's birthday. All I had in candles were ones that said "30" so Mom got to be 30 all over again! When Emma was looking through the pictures from that day she saw the "30' on the pie and said, "30! Grandma is 30?" Then after pausing she said, "Does Dad realize he is the same age as Grandma?"

Of course while they were here they kept busy and spoiled me. I had been meaning to re cover my dining room chairs but with baby that is hard so my wonderful parents did it! Don't they look great?!

Other than that I have just been keeping up with the girls. Bethany LOVES her ExerSaucer these days. How fun!

Emma got a new hair cut. So cute!

And Tabitha let me curl her hair! AMAZING!

Over all, I say, that this has been a pretty good week!