First Snow of The Year

I was starting to get worried we would have a snowless winter this year, but yesterday we had our first "real" snow of the year. It was pretty exciting for Madelyn because she got to sled on the sled that had been sitting in our carage for quite a while (the slope in our front yard was perfect for her), and it was fun for me because I got to watch her. I also loved getting Sawyer all bundled up in snow clothes (even though he just watched from the porch).
playing in the snow was honestly pretty exciting. By the time we got outside most of the kids on our street were out enjoying the weather. Madelyn had a sledding trail all made up for her by a few neighbors who proceded to show her how to sled (not that it is rocket science, but she did copy what they were doing whether it was going down backwards or with no hands). It was cute to say the least.

It Was a Merry Christmas

It was a Merry Christmas this year. We spent Christmas Eve with Spencer's family and Christmas day with my family.

The best parts of Christmas included seeing family and of course the presents that were both given and received.

Spence took the week after Christmas off and I think that was the very best part of Christmas (I am pretty sure this will be the case every year). All of Spencer's family was in town and most of my family was in town. It was great to see Ty and Meghan and their girls. We don't see enough of them since they live in Ohio.

Each year there are always a few presents that stand out. This year it was fabulous to see Madelyn get so excited about new dress ups that she received from her grandma and grandpa Stephenson. She is such a girl. I just love it.Madelyn's Aunt Christina and Uncle Nathan made this puppet show stand for her to play with Spence. So CUTE! Of course she loved it and we have been having puppet shows since Christmas.For Spencer's mom we scanned (it was really just me) in all of the photos from the photo albums she has compiled since Christina (the oldest) was born. It took me about four days of scanning. I was glad when it was done. It was fun to do something besides buying something at the store.

We got my Dad this gun. I say "this" gun because I am not sure how to correctly name it. It is a 30 30 or something like that. My oldest brother Becton picked it out. He knew that my dad has wanted one for a long time and he was right. My dad was pretty excited to get it. apparently it is pretty fun to shoot. During the week after Christmas the guys went shooting and now Spence wants the same gun. We did the nativity at my parents house on Christmas day. The kids thought it was great. Madelyn was an angel who had a gift for Jesus, like the wise men. She kept holding it up high and looking at it over and over again.

And we made it to see the lights, though by the time we got to temple square and met up with everyone our kids were very tired...so we did not stay long. Such is the life of parents with little ones.

It was a great Christmas and I am already excited for next year.

Thank You, Thank You!

This year we had Thanksgiving at the Stephenson's. We brought the home made stuffing. who new stuffing was pretty much just bread drenched in butter. I guess I did since this wasn't my first year making it, but it is always somewhat shocking at the amount of butter used.

It was fun cooking with Madelyn. She thought it was fantastic. We have been making candy for Christmas and I haven't let her help very much because it can burn so quickly. Every time I tell her no she says, "but you let me make the stuffing."We ate a great thanksgiving meal, and then of course followed it up with pie. It was fun tasting all the different pies. For the first time I really liked the pecan pie. It is Spencer's favorite and I have always wondered why, but this year I understood. That is probably because last year I made the pecan pie and I guess I don't make pies very well. This year we bought it from Village Inn, and it turns out that they make a fantastic pecan pie. I also must mention Mama Stephenson's coconut cream pie. As long as I have been part of the family she has always made a fantastic coconut cream pie and this year was no exception.

We did a lot of talking and hanging out. All in all we had a great and very relaxing thanksgiving.

October Fest

Our October started out by finding pumkins in Grandpa Stephenson's pumpkin patch.

Apparently we found the perfect one!

...and apparently painting and decorating those pumpkins with Madelyn's friend Matti was pretty fun too.

We visited the Vineyard pumpkin patch where we had our pictures taken, saw the animals...

...and played and played and played on the play ground.

Then we rested.


For halloween we were the Princess and The Frog. Madelyn was a sick little princess who woke up just in time to go trick or treating. And Sawyer was a cute little frog who I wish I could dress up in frog costumes more often.

And because he deserves a little face time too, here is Sawyer helping dad with the laundry.

"I forgive you mom"

The other day Madelyn had a few treats and it wasn't even lunch time yet. I told her that she couldn't have anymore treats, but she found a chocolate which she concealed between her hands, and as I walked by her in the kitchen she stood there and watched me with very focused, concerned eyes. I knew something was up and as I looked closer I could see the chocolate wrapper between her hands. I thought it was super cute and funny, but I felt like I should follow through. I told her that it was not ok to hide things from mom and that she could not have the chocolate. Of course she continued to ask for the chocolate and I gave in. That is right, I tried to follow through, but I didn't. She got her chocolate and followed it up with a very sincere, "I forgive you mom."

All The Funny Things

I really get a kick out of Madelyn and all the random things she says. I love the way she sometimes says things kind of backwards or out of order in her own Madelyn dialect. I have loved hearing her language change. She used to sing the ABC's with the letter"Q" and "R" as one letter like "queyaw" but now "R" is its own letter, just with a thick twang that I am not sure how to explain. You'll have to hear it some time.

This morning Madelyn was painting and she got paint on the table. When I came down from getting ready she had the dish towel over the table and said to me, "don't look under the towel." I just now yelled down to her and asked her how she was doing. Her reply was, "don't come down". Of course I went down to find her once yellow paper covered in A LOT of pink paint.

Yesterday she took two pencils and proceeded to go under the kitchen table. She said to me, "don't look under here." She likes to bite the erasers off of pencils.

Also yesterday, she wanted to put on her swimming suit to play in the hose. She asked if she could just wear the swim skirt without the swim suit. I told her no of course and then she asked if she could wear a bra with her skirt. It took me a second to figure out she wanted a bikini top. Ha.

I love how she interacts with little Sawyer. She is such a little mommy who makes sure he is content while playing on his mat by saying "Are you OK bud". Or when he cries she will sooth him by saying, "Its OK, I am hear, I am hear". And then she will give him encouragement when he rolls over or semi sits up by saying in a very high pitched mom voice, "good job buddy, good job!" She will say it multiple times to make sure he catches her enthusiasm.

Sawyer doesn't do anything especially funny these days. He is just cute. Like I said, he rolls around and is working on sitting up. He loves being tickled and we love tickling him.

ABC's & 123's

This morning I got Madelyn ready for her third day of pre school at Miss Mischa and Miss Becky's A-Z pre school. She thinks it is the best thing ever. Once I tell her it is a pre school day she will ask me every couple of minutes if it is time to go yet. This morning I was blow drying my hair still and realized she was no longer in my bedroom. I just new she was outside looking for the car pool. I went out to find her waiting at the bottom of our grass. So cute. Because I am a little weary of leaving my three year old outside alone I told her she needed to come get her back pack. Of course she came running. There is no way she would forget her princess back pack.

I really love thinking about how much fun Madelyn is having at pre school. I think she feels like she gets to go to a birthday party every Tuesday and Thursday. She has started telling me about new friends that she is meeting, and she loves all the little crafts that she gets to do.

I feel like I have entered a new realm of motherhood. I have a little girl who is no longer a baby. It is fun having little conversations with her, and so fun figuring out how to be a good mom to her (I don't know about you, but sometimes I feel like I just make it up as I go).