BIG Zack

Something needs to be said for this little kid. Excuse me, BIG kid.

He has more personality than many people I know. Believe me. He packs a punch.

AND he can wink.

On both sides.

He loves making faces.

Crazy ones...

Or "bad guy" ones.

And he often gives me THIS look. Want to know what people comment most about this little buddy? Here's a hint...

Yep. His EYES. Particularly those long dark lashes.

Recently, we stumbled upon something new. Zack can write his name. (Even I didn't believe it at first!) Check it out...

Backwards Z and A at the top, "a picture in the middle", and a backwards C and K at the end.

And he's sporting a new buzz to boot. (Sorry Bel. It will grow, I promise.)

Who would have thought? Wowzers.

I think all the notes he sees his brother write has sunk in on some level.

Don't mess with this boy while he's drawing!

Look at that sweet face. "Sweet" isn't the adjective that usually comes to mind when I think of my intense, stubborn boy - but he really CAN be sweet sometimes.

Who knew? :)

Unfortunately, Zack's been sick lately . A fever. He REALLY fell asleep on this chair in the middle of piano lessons to my nieces and nephew!

He's feeling a bit better today, but still taking a nap. Which is why I have time to post on here.

Love you little Z man. I've been enjoying the naptime, but I hope you get over this soon! We have to go see THESE fabulous people next week!!!

GO Cougars!

Sam tells me he "doesn't know how to smile".

Well, after this photo experience, perhaps I believe him. :)

We met up with Nate for a BYU Basketball game a couple weeks ago. GO COUGARS!

Here's photo attempt #1.

Photo Attempt #2

Proof that Zack and I were there.

Photo Attempt #3 - Zack getting in on the "I don't know how to smile" action.

Photo Attempt #4 - A tiny bit better...

Photo Attempt #5 - Good enough. I'll take it.

Signing off from "I don't know how to smile" land over here...

Our New "Pet"

Guess what?? We finally got a beautiful piano. It is such a joy and fills our home with such vibrant LIFE. It feels so much more homey now. Is that just because I grew up listening to my mom's piano playing as the background soundtrack of my childhood and teenage years? Maybe. Either way, we LOVE it .

Here's Matt at his first lesson. Everyone had lessons today - Sam, Zack and Matt. (excuse the mess on top of the piano... we have yet to find a bookshelf, etc for our music!)

Sam wanted to make sure Zack was in a picture too...

I can't tell you how much we love having this piano in our home. And it has only been 4 days. :) Everyone loves it. Especially me.

Now I'll be able to teach my cute students from my home... and probably add a few more. I love teaching!

**A note about the post title. I am obsessed with mint.com. I LOVE budgeting and tracking our expenses daily. Matt and I had set aside $$ for this piano, but I wasn't sure where to categorize the expense. I decided long ago that all our big ticket items will be put in one of the automatic categories that we never use. Today, Matt saw where I had put this expense and hasn't stopped teasing me about it. I'm sure you guessed. It's in "Pets". Makes perfect sense, right? :)

Overscheduled Part 2

I made it.

And I made these.

Lots of these.

Like over 350 of these.

These "helpers" were very ready for me to be done. I sure was too...

HOORAY! Happy wedding Aleena! (Not sure I'll volunteer for such an undertaking again..., but I was happy to do it for you!)

Overschedule much?

Ever overschedule yourself?

I do. I'm not good at saying no sometimes. The real problem lies in the fact that I really do believe that I can get it all done.

Really.

But check this out...

Between today and Friday I

-have to make 300 cupcake bites for a friend's wedding reception friday night. 180 down, 120 to go. and the 180 took me ALL DAY TODAY

- watched a friend's 3 year old and 18 month old all day today

- am watching same kiddos tomorrow from 9:30am - 4pm

- hosted Zack's playschool (= six kids ages 2-3 for 2 hours) this morning with about 2 hours notice.

- hosted mutual at my house just now

- taught piano lessons to two students today

- teaching piano lessons to three students tomorrow

- attending said friend's sealing friday morning

- speaking in church in 10 days.

- decided "we don't do enough" and invited over 4 families for a get together here on sunday evening

- heading up our neighborhood's playgroup.. first one tomorrow from 9:30 - 11 at the church.

- have Shipoopi practice on friday night. Yes. We were somehow roped into being part of the "Shipoopi dancers" for our stake's musical. Fun, but stressful too. Come see us in March...

is this so much it's comical yet?

I MIGHT COLLAPSE FRIDAY NIGHT AND NEVER RECOVER!

(not to mention a few recent changes in our house... I was called as YW Pres, Sam has been diagnosed with EE and needs regular endoscopies and potential diet restrictions (likely we're off dairy and eggs again over here), and we've been asked to go on Trek this summer. EEK.)

Am I the only one? Does anyone else get themselves in these predicaments???

On another note, these monkeys keep me fairly entertained.

Christmas Card Outtakes

Here are the ones which made it and the ones which didn't... for somewhat obvious reasons.

First of all, when you decide spur of the moment to photograph your children, you should COMB THEIR HAIR. But I didn't. Hey- au naturale, baby.

A little cropping takes care of the problem most of the time. :)

Speaking of cropping. Why didn't I notice this band of light on Sam's face? This pic is oh so cute if it weren't for that distracting light band.

So, crop away. (My current solution to just about everything)

Zack is not the best subject to photograph. Too wiggly perhaps. Here are a few good ones that showcase his funny personality and are hopefully cropped in enough to hide his rats nest hair. Just pretend you don't notice.

Sam thought the light from the windows was WAY too bright.

Especially when combined with my flash. :)

But that doesn't stop me.

These boys were being so adorable, when their hugging didn't turn into a wrestling match that almost knocked over our Christmas tree.

But don't worry. It didn't fall over. Only ALMOST.

Their bad guy faces. A staple these days.

Sweet moments.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Great Grandpa

2008

2010

We love this man and his legacy. Sadly, he passed away this past week. I have always felt tangibly loved by Matt's grandfather even though I married into the family. When we named Sam, we named him after Matt's distant ancestor, William Bradford, since we lived in Boston at that time. We also named him for this man. He and Sam shared their middle name. Hopefully Sam will take after his great grandfather and grow up to be a kind-hearted, witty, smart, loving, and charismatic man as well.

Until we meet again, Grandpa, we will miss you dearly.

Santa's Elves and Sick Days

Overheard today...

Sam: Dad, do Santa and his elves MAKE all the toys or BUY all the toys for Christmas?

Matt: Santa has a very complicated supply chain network.

This is one five-year-old boy who is VERY excited for Christmas this year!

(Sorry for the horrid picture quality... that's the best I can do with what I have)

On another note, Matt took a sick day last week (unheard of). Sam and Zack found him reading a book on our bed and just had to join him.