Dad, you're...

Just a quick line from the Brin-ster that cracked me up. Matt was heading out the door for work this morning and Brinley said, "Dad, you're stupid." She immediately realized that this was not appropriate and changed it quickly to, "Dad, you're (looking around to find a replacement word) pants."

This is Brin at Aunt Katie's wedding. Looking at this, it's hard to imagine her being naughty.

Koolaid is not Kool

Today, my girls and I were making taffy to celebrate pioneer day (a few days late, I know). I had all of my ingredients out, just like a professional chef, when I see that Brinley is checking out the koolaid packet. I know that my insticts should have told me to smile at her and subtley move it to an unreachable location, but they didn't. Instead, my mom alarm went off about 10 minutes later when I noticed that the koolaid and Brinley are AWL. I run praying that she hadn't ripped it open on the carpet. I find her in her bathroom with a fuming red mouth, hands, and dress. She was trying to clean off the mess to conceal the evidence but the more water she used, the redder she became. I was thankful that she was in the bathroom but the package of drinkable fun was still missing. I do a quick scan of the area and found it on my bathroom floor. Yeah! I can sweep and mop it...easy, peasy. Not easy, peasy. The more I tried to clean it, the redder my bathroom tile became. I used about 50 wipes to get the tile clean but the grout was still redder than red. I started having visions of me being 80 years old still looking at that hideous tile grout. Then I had a revelation...clorox bleach sticks. I love those things. I wasn't convinced that they'd work but within two minutes, my grout was back to normal and my bathroom was saved!

Now, I was very thankful that it did not end up on my carpet, but this brings me to another story, involving Brinley. A few weeks ago before church, she came up to me with bright red fingernails that she had obviously done herself. I sent the troops looking for the location, and we discovered that she had painted her nails behind a chair in our basement and left some evidence on our new beige-ie carpet. I was sick. Are we going to be one of those families that trashes everything nice in sight? Can't we have anything nice? Thank goodness for google. After a minute of research, I learned that baking soda works well on removing fingernail polish. And it did. Put that one down in your mental filing cabinet.

Now, I'm going to turn my up my alarm and remember that Brinley is obviously a lot more mischevious than all of my other girls combined. It's time to hide everything red and stainable and keep her in my sight.

The Month of Paige

Note: I originally started writing this post in April, but got gave up when I experienced technical difficulties. I wanted to post her baptism video, and even though all my ducks seem to line up, I still can't get it to work. So anyway... here is my April post in June...minus the video. I'm having blogging issues today...what is up with the spacing?

It seems as though we have been celebrating Paige's birthday for an entire month. She turned eight on March 27th, was baptized on April 9th, had a b-day party April 15th, and just spent the last of the $$$ from her gift cards a couple of days ago. Here are some of the highlights...

Her b-day was on a Sunday, so here she is in her new church dress with her new scriptures and bag. (Pictured next to Paige is the family camera hog. She never misses a photo op.)

Here she is glowing in her baptism dress. We were lucky enough to go to Logan (for Katie's wedding) the week before she was baptized and take pics of her at the ole alma mater and the temple.

I let Paige pick out her dress (with a little bit of direction), and I think she did a great job. It was a little painful ruling out all of the bedazzled dresses, but it was worth it in the end.

I don't know who thought it was a good idea to put parking behind the bride's bench (a man, I'm sure), but I still love this view.

Baptism day with G-pa and G-ma Anderson

G-pa, Sue, Adam, Debbie, Abbey, and our fam

Here Paige is with her hilarious friends. I never thought I would throw a hamster party, but I did it, and it was awesome! I'll have to post my tutorial for making hamster beds and bedding, so you won't have to reinvent the wheel for your next hamster party. Stay tuned.

Pretty in Pink

Catch up time again...For Macy's party this year we went with the "Pretty in Pink" theme...ahhhhh! Once the guests arrived, they received a little purse with coupons to buy lots of girly pink gear. They bought tutus, bracelets, ring pops, rings, notebooks, and hair flowers. Girl heaven. (P.S. I hope you recognize Macy. She has lost a couple of teeth and worries that no one will know who she is anymore.)

The new and improved 6 year old Macy.
My new favorite word is tutorial. The handles of these bags are made from bracelets. Very clever!
The smorgasbord. The party girls.

Here's Macy gliding on her new pink scooter. Look at that form...I think I should sign her up for ice skating lessons.

A Post For My Dad and Mom

If you've ever been in my parent's home chances are you've probably seen my dad leaning over a garbage can sanding. He is the king of wood projects. He's supplied the whole Relief Society with cut and sanded wood for "homemaking" meetings...for years. The women in our family have also utilized his skills and woodworking shop. If he had a nickel for every frame he made, he would be one rich muchacho. He's very talented. I used to think that I would marry a woodworker. I thought it was in men's blood. I was shocked when Matt didn't really have an interest in making furniture. So I've decided to make it my calling. I decided that I might have a little bit of my dad's woodworking DNA in mine. Anyway, here's what we've been up to.

A cute little farmhouse bed for Avery's AGD

Avery helped me assemble it. She also woodfilled, sanded, primed, and painted it.

This picture is for my mom. I'm sure she thought that those painful days of 4H sewing projects would never end, but they did, and I can sew. (Note: I need someone to have a real baby, so I can make this blanket in full size. I love it.) Avery (very meticulously) sewed the mattress and pillows. She did a great job!

Here's a bed I made for Macy. This was my first project and holy cow, I learned a lot. First being...make sure the Home Depot guy supplies you with the correct wood.

I also DIY'ed the duvet from Target sheets. I plan on making pillows...maybe I'll take advantage of Avery's newly acquired skills and have her whip them out for me.

It is FAR from perfect, but I'm glad it's done.

A big thanks to Matt for letting me live the dream. He didn't once question the credit card bill for my many trips to Home Depot, he was my human clamp when I needed an extra hand, he donated an air compressor from work, and he was master of the nail gun.

She Looks Like An Angel

It's amazing how quickly a mom can forget what a handful a 2 year old can be. I'm no psychiatrist, but she seems a little bipolar to me...either a super sweetie or super terror. Here is some evidence...

Here she is being a cute little mommy with her baby...how sweet.

Oh, she fell asleep on the stairs, how innocent.

Look there is Brinley with Hello Kitty panties on her head. What a ham!

What a funny kid, with a funny face!

But the tides turn. Here she is with her latest artwork. Matt and I had JUST finished painting our walls and were putting the supplies away when we heard the sound any parent would recognize...crayons on the wall. (Note: Brinley is on my lap as I am typing. Now she is acting as though she has multiple personalities. She just said,"Oh no, she wrote on the wall, not on paper. She is sick.)

She attacked some bread I had made for a primary fireside. You think a mother would know better.

We definitely have our ups and downs, but she is laugh out loud funny and a blessing to our family. For the record...

*She likes to put socks on her hands and call herself a princess.
*Here is a conversation she has multiple times a day with Matt...

-------Matt: You're goofy.

-------Brinley: (at mock speed) No, I not goofy, I Brinley.

*The other day I was buttoning up my pants and she sincerely said,"What-sa-matter? Your pants fall down?"

*Loves, loves, loves her cell phone and CTR ring.

*Her favorite church song is "Stars are Gleaming"

*Her favorite musician is Katy Perry. Nothing warms a mother's heart more than to hear her two year old singing about Daisy Dukes and Bikini's.

*She likes to eat with a "Foon".

Note: To close my case, she just put panties on her head again and got the leg hole stuck under her chin. The funny never ends.

NoteII: We have 4 little moms in this house, so I'm often heard saying..."you're not the mom" to one of my children. On Tuesday (Jan. 25th), Brinley said,"I'm not the mom, I Brinley."

Smart #@$

My memory is not what it used to be, so I'm going to hurry and jot down a conversation that happened during lunch today.

Paige: (said something witty, that I have already forgotten)
Matt: You're quite a Smart "A"! (Note: He really said the letter "A", though still inappropriate).
Paige: No, I should be a Smart "P".
Avery: Yeah, I'm a Smart "A".

Got to love these special family moments!