I Got Tagged!

8 TV shows I like to watch
1. Jeopardy
2. The Office
3. The News
4. Letterman
5. America's Funniest Videos (My kids favorite)
6. Wheel of Fortune
7. Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
8. Wipe Out (My kids second favorite...is it a problem if their favorite things to watch are people getting hurt?)

8 things that happened yesterday
1. Fed the baby, and fed the baby, and fed the baby, and...
2. Started reading "My Antonia"
3. Made sourdough starter
4. Ground wheat
5. Made pumpkin muffins
6. Made invitations for a Halloween party
7. Ironed patches on Madison's Girl Scout uniform
8. Folded laundry
Wow, I was very domestic yesterday.

8 favorite places to eat
1. Rubios
2. Joe's Barbecue
3. Manuel's
4. Outside (camping, picnics)
5. Texas Roadhouse
6. Quizno's
7. Nico's
8. El Pollo Loco

8 things I am looking forward to
1. Trip to Utah next week for my college roommate's wedding
2. My package that I ordered from Old Navy
3. Making Halloween costumes
4. Trick or Treating and Halloween parties
5. Turkey
6. Christmas shopping
7. Cooler weather
8. All of Levi's milestones in the next year


8 things on my wish list
1. A good night's sleep
2. A whole day of kids not arguing (any advice anyone?)
3. A clean house
4. A landscaped backyard
5. New pans
6. A vacation
7. A trip to Seattle to see Larissa
8. A van

8 people I tag:
1. Leah C.
2. Heather P.
3. Amanda J.
4. Suzie S.
5. Stacy L.
6. Kris M.
7. Jenise K.
8. Donna E.

Levi Smiles!

Levi has been sharing his adorable wide-mouth smile for a few weeks now, but I can never seem to get a good picture of it. Here's a cute smile, but I really love the one with his mouth wide open. I'm sure we'll have plenty of pictures of it in the next few months. Levi is two months old now, and is doing great. He seems to be following the growth curves of his brother and sister, so we'll have another tall, skinny kid. He loves his bathtime now and gets quite a workout every night in the bath, kicking and waving his arms.

Dinosaur Land

In an attempt to get Wyatt out of the house, we took a trip to Tucson Botanical Gardens last week for their special "Dig" exhibit. Wyatt would rather stay home and play than go anywhere, and my attempts to run errands, go shopping, or even go out to do something fun, are often met with resistance (translation: crying, whining, complaining). Unfortunately, the stay home and play turns into too many hours of movies and computer games, so I decided we had to get out. We made it to storytime at the library one day, and to the Botanical Gardens another day. The dinosaur exhibit was fun, although not very extensive. They had a little treasure hunt set up throughout the gardens, and when we solved the puzzle, we were rewarded with...rocks. Okay, they were pretty cool petrified wood rocks, but I thought Wyatt was a little disappointed with his treasure. I changed my mind after we got home and he was telling Madison all about how it used to be wood and then it got buried in the ground for a long, long, long time and then it turned into rocks. I had never been to the botanical gardens before, and I actually liked it more than I thought I would. I think it would be even more impressive in the spring when more things are in bloom. We are planning to go back when they have their butterfly exhibit starting in November.

The Life of a Mother...

Yesterday Wyatt said, "Mom, the only time you can sit still is when you are feeding the baby, huh?" So I asked him, "What do I do the rest of the time?"
"You just clean the house and curl your hair."
I guess that's my life these days (although there's really not much hair curling going on).

Levi's Blessing Day

Levi was blessed by his dad on Sunday. It was a great day! Darin gave him a beautiful blessing, and we were happy to have so much family there. Grandnana and Papa came from Las Vegas, Aunt Janet came from Dallas, Chelsea came from LA, Nana from Gilbert, Grandpa Bruce from Chandler, the Lichlyters from Yuma, the Prices from Tucson, the Kluvers/Parisots from Vail, and the Elams from Tucson and Sahuarita. We appreciate all the miles traveled to be with us on our special day. When Darin and all of the other priesthood holders circled around Levi for the blessing, it hit me how blessed my children are to have that amazing circle of support and love that includes many generations. After the blessing, we all gathered at our house for a lunch of Hawaiian Haystacks and Sweet and Sour Meatballs. And we all put away lots of cookies!

The day before the blessing, we went on an excursion to Madera Canyon to have a picnic dinner and let the kids run and play. Nana and Papa hit the root beer pretty hard. The kids loved hiking and playing by the creek. Ethan fell in the water and soaked his shorts, but somehow his feet stayed completely dry. The kids even saw a few bear caves, and Lindsay was sure she saw the bear! These cousins get along so well. I love it when we have an excuse to get them together.

I Didn't Mean To!

So a few days ago, Madison and Wyatt were playing in the back yard. Since our back yard is just dirt for now, it usually turns into some play of this variety. When I went outside to check on them and see what they were up to, I saw this Wyatt, and the first words out of Madison's mouth were, "I didn't mean to!" I'm not sure how Wyatt got mud so perfectly placed in his face, but I'm sure it was purely accidental. Just like she "accidentally" pulled his hair the other day...hair that is about 1/4 inch long. She only looks sweet and innocent!