Preschool

Emma started preschool in September and has been loving it. She goes two days a week for two and a half hours. She loves her friends there and everything that she is learning. It is amazing to watch her progress. Her teacher sent home a CD with pictures throughout the year so I thought I'd post some, mostly for Grandmas and Grandpas. There's a ton of pictures here, so feel free to skim. (I tried to post only pictures of Emma to avoid putting pictures of other people's children due to privacy issues, etc.)
I think this one was taken on the first day of school. And I can't figure out how to turn it.

Here's Halloween.

Emma loves glue. Seriously.

Learning about machines.

Making cookies.

Painting with pudding?

On a field trip to the pet store.

Well, that's that.

Bathrooms, Black eyes, & Binkies

I finally bought a cable for our camera! Yeah! I know that you are all so excited about that. Sorry that you had to look at the same thing everytime you open your homepage (I know that we are everyone's homepage...right?) Anyway, here are some long over due pictures. First of all, remember way back in the day when we started to redo our bathroom? Well, it's done now. Mostly. Like the rest of our main floor, we have not touched the flooring. But, here are some pictures of that.
Here is the best before picture I've got. I really wish I had one of the sink though. It was wall mounted and maybe, 18" square. Really small, and gross. Also, the shower head sprayed straight down, almost backwards, there was no plumbing up the wall. Or electricity. We had a light, but no outlets. (Bear in mind that this is after I had already started demo.)

And the after... (pretty much the same view.)

Forgive the personal items...

Since these pictures, we have had an outlet installed as well as the missing light blub. P.S. Notice the TP on the shelf? Still haven't put up the holder. It's sitting right next to it. I lost the mounting hardware. And I'm lazy.

So, that's that. I love it. Next up, our new master closet! Stay tuned.
So, a couple of weeks ago, we had the Bishop and his wife over for dinner. Emma was wrestling on the floor with the dog and hit her head (eye) on the pillar in the living room (I think right on the corner of the molding). She had a really nice shiner for over a week. I only took this one picture but should've taken more. Especially when it turned that sickly shade of green.

And then this one just because I like it. I know, I need to get rid of the pacifier. There comes a time in everyone's life... but his boss hasn't said anything, so we'll let him have it. He sleeps so much better with it.

Longest Post EVER!!!

You may think that we fixed our camera cable. You're wrong. My mother-in-law made a CD for us of the pictures that she took while here. Thanks Mom. So anyway, here are some pictures of our Christmas week, a little late, but still good.
Timothy has been wanting to have a Christmas at home since we got married. So, this year, we invited family to our house for Christmas. Grandma Allred was the only one who took us up on that offer. (Although Timothy's brother had a good excuse, they're in Vegas and about to have a baby. I mean, they're at the hospital. We're thinking about you guys! Good luck Jen!!) Anyway, we had a fun week.
Emma has started to really like fairies. She saw the Tinker Bell movie (by the way, did anyone else find that movie disappointing? Peter Pan wasn't even in it. I really thought that it would be much different than it was. OK, promise not to review kids movies anymore.) and has been talking fairies ever since. She got this dress for Halloween and loves to wear her fairy dress. Kaylee got a little bit envious and went for her fairy dress too. I don't think she quite gets it but if Emma is doing it, she has to too.

On Christmas Eve, the girls got new Christmas jammies. There's just something about footed jammies that make kids look so cute!

Before bed Christmas Eve, we sang some Christmas carols. Emma loves to sing, as you can see. And again, Kaylee loves to do whatever Emma is doing.

Christmas morning, we called my Mom and Dad in the Philippines and they got to watch the girls open their stockings (via Skype... I love technology...). After presents, we wanted to take the girls sledding. However, we live in the land of flat. I cannot think of a park with a hill in it. So, Timothy pulled the sled around the park by our house. Which was enough for the babies. He ran around in a circle until the girls tipped over. Emma thought that was great fun. Kaylee was too shocked to even cry. It was pretty funny.


This picture is supposed to be the other way, but I can't figure out how to turn it around.


A couple of weeks before Christmas, we were talking to Emma about how Christmas is Jesus' birthday. She was quiet for a minute and then asked if we were going to have cake and sing the birthday song for baby Jesus. We figured, why not? So after Christmas dinner, we had birthday cake and sang.
I didn't have enough icing to put around the edges of the layers, so it kind of started to settle after I put the cookies on it, but it still tasted wonderful! I love cream cheese. And chocolate. And mint. (p.s. I just made the world's best chocolate chip cookies...yummm. Sister Elford's recipe, melt in your mouth goodness!)

Speaking of cookies, my Grandma Amen makes frosted cream cookies every year for Christmas. These cookies are just as good as money in our family. I mean, you could probably buy just about anything from anyone in the family for a container of cookies. So, anyway, this year, as we stayed home, I did not get any cookies. I decided Sunday before Christmas, that I was going to make my own because, it just wouldn't be Christmas without them. Let me tell you, these are the most ridiculous cookies I have ever made. It takes like, three hours (and like, 10 cups of flour) to make one batch. Plus, the icing is a little bit finicky, I think I overcooked mine by a couple of seconds (or minutes...). Anyway, Linda snapped a picture of me, covered in flour, trying to ice the cookies, piles and piles of cookies. I don't think that I'll make them next year.

Please, don't judge my hair in this picture. It doesn't look fantastic, I'd been making cookies for hours!

Laziness

Just wanted to update to show you that I haven't forgotten. I just haven't gotten the cable for the camera yet. We will. Someday. For now, just imagine pictures.

Memmmm'ries.... (you're supposed to sing it, you know, that old song?)

So we got some pictures from some friends that they've had for a while. I was looking through them and there were some that were so stinkin' cute, I just had to share them. Also, back in August, I had said that we had lots of cute pictures from the fair but our batteries had died and blah, blah, blah. Well, we got those pictures from our friends and I figured I'd post them now, at least that's a post this week, even if the pictures are old. We still have to figure out what's wrong with our camera. Anyway, here we go.
These pictures are from Easter 2007. We did an Easter egg hunt and dinner with the Chenoweth's (those are our friends who always have a camera when we don't. Thanks guys!)

I had to post this one because I think that Emma looks a lot like Kaylee. I was surprised at the similarities. This next picture, I only posted because, holy belly batman! I was huge! This was like, a month before Kaylee was born. I look like I stuffed a basketball under my shirt. Nice. (There was another picture that showed it a little better but it also made my arms look really fat. So, I'm not going to share it.)

Now here's some pictures from the fair last August.

This one is blurry but you can see how excited they are to be on the ride. (ps. I don't know the kid in front. We asked him to duck out of the picture... Just kidding.)

I had to post this one because Timothy looks so great! (I'm sorry honey! I love you!) This bird really moved so slow and didn't go up or down or anything. But Timothy was being a good Daddy. Kaylee really wanted to ride it, and he took her and put in a lot of enthusiasm!

Don't you love the look of pure joy on Emma's face?

Anyway, there's some old pictures and me, reliving some memories.

Sad Story

So, I wanted to post, just so you all knew that I have been thinking about posting. I was going to do a Halloween post and show the girls in their cute costumes. However, our camera is having some issues and we can't get the pictures off of it onto the computer. I'm not really sure yet how to remedy that situation. I will keep working on it. Rest assured, the girls were very cute and we had a good time.
I also wanted to update really quick on our bathroom. We are almost finished (for now). We still have to paint and it is taking us quite some time because we've been out of town and sick. So, as soon as it's 'done', we'll let you know. (I'm sure that most people who read our blog, don't really care. But I have had some people ask about it, so there you go.) Have a great day!

Photoshoot

So, a few weeks ago, I posted a picture of the girls in their matchy-matchy ballerina outfits. My Mom requested some professional shots. (What? my point and shoot against the sofa wasn't good enough for her?) We tried to get some at Grandma's (she's a photographer) but the girls were not so cooperative, Emma refused to even put on her tutu - which is odd considering she loves to wear it around the house. Anyway, a talented friend of ours agreed to take some pics (it's not that I'm too cheap to take them to a 'real' portrait studio, just too lazy. And cheap.) She brought them over today and they are dang cute! I love the look of them, the girls look beautiful. We could not get too many of them together but we did get one that I'm in love with. Here's a couple of my favorites!

How cute is that?

I don't know why I like this one so much. It's just so Emma.

Dancing like a ballerina. Love those eyes.

She almost looks like she's dancing. Break my heart! I love my girls!

Isn't she beautiful?

Random Happenings

Well, this post is long overdue. Just wanted to fill you in on some of the random events going on in our lives. First of all, one night, when Timothy was at work (or somewhere else, I don't remember) anyway, the girls and I melted some chocolate chips and dipped some bananas. Kaylee really enjoyed them and just went to town. Couldn't resist a pic.

(p.s.Yes, she is in her swim suit. We also played swimming all day. Emma was quite angry that I did not want to walk around in my swim suit with them.)
I just had to share this picture. Last weekend was General Conference (that's where the leaders of our Church speak to members World Wide via satellite broadcasts, etc.). Anyway, we were able to watch it at home. Emma went into her room and brought out one of her little chairs and sat in it. Kaylee was missing for a minute, then I heard her grunting for help. I found her trying to carry her own chair. She loved to sit beside her sister while they listened intently and took meticulous notes. It was totally cute! (Don't feel bad if your kids don't watch Conference, ours are just really advanced. I'm kidding. They didn't take notes. We barely had time to snap a pic before they were up and running again.)

Also, this last Saturday - for those of you who have been following our history, this will be really exciting - Timothy and a friend (thanks Justin! and Janelle for letting us have him!) starting tiling our bathroom!!!!! I was so excited!!! We grout on Tuesday and I just have to paint, fix it up a little bit (another new light, some new furniture) and I will be ready to reveal the after picture! But here's a little something to tide you over.

Isn't that exciting!!!
You know what else is exciting? Last Sunday, a friend lent me a book that I have been kinda curious to read for a while. I devoured it in a day. I got the next book and read that in one night. Yes, you guessed it, I am officially a huge fan (or addict) of the twilight saga! I finished Breaking Dawn last night and I have to tell you, I think I'm going to miss Edward and Bella. I might have to start over! (I know that I am years late starting my addiction, I'm not sure how that happened.) Anyway, Timothy is starting Twilight as we speak. I am so excited for him. I hope he likes it. Alright, now I'm so excited I might have to watch the trailer again. Am I alone in this? Please tell me I'm not a freak!

Finally some pictures

The last week in August, the girls and I went to visit Grandma Allred. We had a blast! The girls got to ride the carousel until I got sick (Kaylee can't ride by herself, so I have to sit with her) and Grandma loves to spoil them rotten! They loved it! I didn't take too many pictures but here's a cute one that I needed to share. One night Grandma made some popcorn. Emma was able to reach the bowl with her stool but Kaylee needed help. So, Emma would feed her little sister individual kernels. It was pretty cute. She loves to take care of her!

When we got back from Grandma's, we discovered that our internet was down. I did everything that I know how to to fix the problem. I finally had to call Qwest at 8pm on a Saturday. They told me to do everything that I had just done. (Really helpful guys, thanks.) Nothing was working. So finally, the guy says, "How old is your modem?" I replied, "Just over two years". "Oh, well, they usually only last two years." Then he explained that the wiring starts to go on them and blah, blah, blah. I was like, seriously? I have never heard that before. It would have sounded more credible had he said that modems were only good for 2-3 years before he asked me how old ours was. He said we needed to buy a new modem from them. I pretty much hung up on him. Long story short, we have very, very strong feelings towards a certain communications company. Their customer service is awful! We would not recommend them to our enemies. We have been unhappy with them for a while and looked at this as a great opportunity to switch companies! Yeah! But we had to wait two weeks for installation. So, now we're up and running. Anyway, that was kind of a side note. Here are some more pictures of my beautiful girls.

So, I've fallen in love with homemade bread. I like to make it, I like to eat it. We've been making it a lot lately. I have also discovered instant yeast. But that's another post. Here's Emma after a good 'kneading'. She likes my bread too.

Kaylee, doing laundry. I like to sort my laundry on the floor in the living room. Then, I put it in baskets and take it downstairs. Well, Kaylee got to it and resorted before I could get it down. Oh well. She had a great time.

Isn't she cute? On the other hand, everyone is getting big, fancy cameras. I'm a point and shooter. But I think you can really see the difference in quality can't you?
Also, my big girl has finally learned how to come down the stairs by herself! I feel so relieved! I got so nervous whenever Kaylee would get near stairs because she thought she could just walk right off. AHHHH! Here she is, revelling in her achievement! (OK, I'll be honest, I'm still nervous if I see her on the stairs. But if I don't have to watch, she does great!)

Sorry, this post has been really random and I'm sure most of you gave up reading a long time ago. That's fine with me.

Beautiful Ballerinas!

So, here's the deal. I tried to do two posts last Friday. But I couldn't upload the video until today. So, it posted under Friday's date, even though it didn't really post until today. So, don't get lost. I explain these pictures in the last post. Here are the pictures of the girls in their new outfits. They wore them to Church today and they were so cute!

I don't know if you can really see their shirts. They say "Little Sister" and Big Sister" on them and there is a little girl. They are adorable. Emma really has worn her tutu everywhere. The day after we got them, we went to Walmart and she had to wear it there. Everyone was looking at her and telling her how pretty she looked and then looked at me and laughed. I'm not sure if they were laughing at me or with me. Doesn't really matter. Sorry about the pacifier. I had just woken Kaylee up from a too short nap and threw her clothes on her to rush out the door. Give her a break.
One of the gifts that Emma got for her birthday was some coloring books and markers. She really likes the markers but prefers blank canvas to coloring books.

Fortunately, we caught her before she got to the walls. We'll just put those away until she's a little bit older!
Emma had a rice krispie square the other day and went to enjoy it on the stairs. She was followed by her best friend. They sat face-to-face. That is, until Timothy went to get the camera. Then they backed up a little bit. Wicket loves the kids...food.

And another of the best friends. Both sittin' at the window. Watching the neighbors.

Well, that's all for now. Sorry to bombard you with so many posts in such a short period!

The Big Update

So, as it turns out, I really do need to post more often. I have a lot to put up today. Bear with me, I'll try to keep it as short as I can.
So, I totally forgot that our ward had an activity for Pioneer Day and we got some pictures, until I was 'cleaning out' the camera. It was a really fun activity, well done to the committee!

This is Emma and me in the three legged race. You see the little girl next to us? Well, we totally beat them. Just kidding! We had Emma and her run the three legged race together. It was really cute! Except that they looked at us totally confused. I think going with their mommies was a little bit better. But it was really cute. ALSO, here's a video. You all get to participate in Kaylee's first steps. She is pushing a stroller but still. This is what started it all! She is walking very well now, for all of you who are interested. But this was her first experience with pushing something that moves and she really loved it!

Alright, that was pioneer day. The first part of August, the State Fair was in town. We went one day and Mom and Dad came down. It was tons of fun! Thanks to our friends for the free gate admission! Unfortunately, the batteries for our camera died right after we got there. I'll post our pictures as soon as they get emailed to me! Just be on the look out for them because they are really cute!

Last Saturday, August 9, was Emma's third birthday! I cannot believe how old she is! And I still feel like I'm 18. We had a little party for her and she got spoiled rotten! I asked her what kind of party she wanted (princess, fairy, etc.). She requested a horse party. So, we rented a horse. Just kidding, do you think we're crazy? I made a cake. That was about it. Anyway, here's some pics!

This is the day before the party. I made the cake and then let the cupcakes cool on the counter. I turned around for about 5 seconds to sort some laundry. When I turned back around, each of the girls were enjoying a cupcake. Hey, at least Emma got one for her sister too!

Let me explain this next picture. Like I said, Emma got spoiled rotten. And we did allot of it. Timothy saw all of this stuff at a garage sale. We spent like, $12 on all of this stuff. Plus, she shares everything with Kaylee. So, we'll justify.

The kitchen is in awesome condition and it came with dishes and food. Then there was the stroller, Emma's wanted one for two years. Seriously. The red boxes are board games left over from Christmas. (She was too overwhelmed to open them.) And the makeup counter thing. I'm sure to some people, that doesn't look like a lot for a birthday but in our family, its unheard of!

So, did you know that you can go online and print out templates to make horse head cakes? Neither did I. You can though. So, next time, remember that! This time, just don't make too much fun of my cake. It tasted really good!

The green cupcakes are supposed to be grass.

Here's Kaylee, enjoying her sister's birthday.

And the pinata. I read this idea in a parenting magazine. You make a pinata out of an oat container. It was super easy and fast and worked really well. I'm such a cool Mom. Just kidding! Anyway, that's all I've got for you this time. Emma and Kaylee's Aunt and Uncle sent them the cutest outfits but I don't want to tell you what they are until I get a picture. Emma won't take hers off but Kaylee's not quite sure how she feels about it. So, I'll snag a picture and get it up here sometime soon. Thanks Jen and Isaac!