I Love Reminiscing

I love looking through old pics every now and then and today I came across this one...


It looked so cute, but I needed a pic of just these two and so I decided to try to get myself out of it and turned it into this..

I like it. I actually have a pic JUST LIKE this one with me holding my baby brother, Drew. I think I'm going to get this one printed out and put it up in their SHARED room. That's right. I'll post pics of the new place soon, but I did decide to put them in the same room and so far - it's been a little shaky, but okay.

Anywho, the other day, my mom was having fun reminiscing and sent me some of these:

Me and my uncle Steve when he got home from his mish, I'm assuming? I guess me and my cousins really missed him because while he was gone, we would play Little Mermaid - I was Ariel because of my red hair, my cousin, Whitney, was Prince Eric because she had short hair, my cousin, Tay, was flounder and my brother, Drew, was Steve (???) So you would hear us playing and say, "Come on Ariel! Come on Eric! Come on Flounder! Come on STEVE!"

Happy Easter 1991! Drew's bow tie and hair is the best.

I remember feeling so fancy in this dress :)

Sweet bow.

Oh the 90s and the jeans extravaganza.

From the left: Flounder, Ariel, Eric, Steve

Why was I allowed to go outside looking like this?!? Also, sweet socks and sandals, Drewbee.

Apparently I thought I was a sweet gangsta.

There were several more - but they were just a bit too embarrassing to put on here just yet. Suffice it to say - I thought I was the bomb diggity when I was a teenager...

(Post Sign: General Conference is the best - especially with popcorn at 10 in the morning - I think that will be our new tradition - Pancakes and Popcorn. It fits our family perfectly. Weird, but awesome! :) )

Failed BUT Noteworthy Attempts

Matt and I have both made failed attempts lately - but got so close to S-U-C-C-E-S-S!

Here's Matt's story...

So our dryer stopped getting hot a couple weeks ago. Matt talked to some people at our church and one man came over and offered a couple suggestions as to what the problem might be, so Matt decided to try to fix it himself. Apparently, he was still riding the high he got from installing our car stereo - so he set about fixing it in pure confidence.

He popped open that sucker and started removing and replacing all sorts of parts. It started getting too costly, but there was one more part he wanted to replace.

However, it was too late and the place was closed and we hadn't been able to do laundry for a week, so we decided to give up and call a fix-it guy (which turned out to be a fix-it entourage). Anywho, they came over and lo and behold - it was that last part that Matt wanted to replace for like $20 - instead the fix-it posse charged us $90. We were depressed, but I was so proud that Matt had gotten so close. AND everything he replaced will now make our dryer last FOREVER! Good job, babe!

And now for my sad story...

I've mentioned that I've never cut Liv's hair. It was so uneven and it's been bugging me for quite some time, but I've been WAY too scared to cut it - so I finally bit the bullet and attempted.

I was feeling good as I was brushing her hair out and looking at what I needed to even out. Then I started cutting with these scissors:

They were so dull! But they were all I had so I just tried my best. And then when I was right about to cut the hair on one side - Livy looked up and I cut a chunk of hair way shorter than the rest. By the end of this horribly failed attempt - her hair was no more near even than it was before - the left side is seriously struggling right now. Bleh! So lesson learned - I need to go get some descent scissors and wait until she's sleeping I guess (?) haha

Here's the hair she lost. She does look older now though, even with the failed haircut. She's getting so big!

(too embarrassed to post a pic of the final hair cut...)

The Deliciousness that is: Apple Hill

We made it to Utah alive and safe! And we finally have internet! Woohoo! Hopefully it will distract me from the funk I've been in since we got here. I'm missing my life back in CA filled with amazing people, both friends and family. This morning I'm missing some friends that became family:

We are supposed to be at their house tonight for the Ruggles-Wiseman Thursday Night Line-up. But we won't be and it makes me sad. I tried to explain to Liv the other day that we lived far from her little BFF, but she didn't take it too well. I'm not taking it so well either. I guess we had gotten too comfortable and satisfied with our lives there. Heavenly Father knew it was time to shake things up so we could continue to learn and progress.

Anywho, I'm trying to catch up on the happenings with the Wisemans. A couple weeks ago, we went to Apple Hill and it was DELICIOUS. The apple doughnuts and juice are the best treat ever!

Everyone was loving Apple Hill.

Livy also had the time of her life with her first pony ride! It was the cutest thing ever. She was the smallest person there and ended up on the biggest pony. It was so funny! The whole time she kept yelling "Yee-how" (now haw - how) and "Giddy up!"

Livy was scared at first, but once she saw Cos get on one - she immediately hopped on with complete confidence.

We had so much fun playing with the kiddlies:

Livy totally prefers Raquel to me now. People always assume that Liv belongs to Raquel and Cos belongs to me. If only our children weren't little clones of their fathers...

Thrill seeker. Love those legs!

Cute Mommy-Daughter Moment

His smile is the best.

These two fight, play, and love each other like sisters.

The men tending the boys... Doing this requires sunglasses, folded arms, and a sweet stance if you want to look manly. They look like wannabe bouncers. Apparently Marc just said something HILARIOUS.

***

Later that night we had a ward activity that was Western-themed. It tied in perfectly with Liv's first pony ride earlier that day!

I mean, how sweet is her outfit? She's obsessed with this hat.

You can't see it, but Adam is wearing a sweet shirt with two guns on it that says Lil' Pistol.

Who else is singing to themselves, "Wanted. Dead or Alive!" Thank you, Bon Jovi.

Best Buds with Awkward Smiles - all they're thinking right now is: "Mommy/Alexis promised me gum if I'd smile!!!"

Adam's First Sick Day :(

Here's Adam when he's perfectly healthy and normal:

And here's my boy with a sinus AND ear infection:

I had no idea the little bugger was in so much pain! He's so happy and content all of the time. I took him to the doctor because he has a nasty cough that, Matt kept telling me, sounded like the croup! (Like he would know) Anyway, the doctor checked his lungs and everything was fine and then found a serious amount of puss in this ear:With Livy I was ALWAYS nervous about her getting an ear infection, because there is really no way of knowing, but then she never got one - so I wasn't even thinking about it with him, especially because he was showing NONE of the signs. The only thing that has changed lately is that he has been fussy when we put him to sleep and he started waking up during the night. But this is normal for healthy kids - so I was completely surprised. It makes me feel sad that he's been hurting and I had no clue!

Luckily, he has his big sister to help take care of him!

The first prescribed medicine for my kids. Livy has never needed prescribed medicine.

Funny side story: Livy demanded pigtails today for her hair. I don't know why it was so funny, she just looked hilarious. That's all.

Oh yes, Some Accessories!!!

Funny little story... I had to get to church before Matt and Livy last week so all I said to Matt was - she needs a bow in her hair and tights! You don't have to do anything fancy - just make her look presentable! Anyway, they were running a little late and I was growing more and more nervous and then they finally walked in and here was what Livy looked like:

Matt totally accessorized her outfit! How cute is that! Next step: learning how to french braid!

Adam's First Hair Cut!

This was a biggie for us, I mean, we haven't ever cut Liv's hair yet! We got lucky that it came in looking layered and not like a weird mullet! Anywho, the boy's hair was getting a little lengthy so we decided to give him his first of MANY buzzes. He was such a champ!

So excited for his new do!

I mean, we were surprisingly taking off a lot of hair. Matt was a little scared to buzz on top due to the soft spot. But Adam's still alive and well. No worries.

The big reveal

It looks like he lost a ton of dark hair, but now it looks light - my kids' hair changes color.

Baking Bonanza

Since we've added Cake Boss to our favorite shows, Matt has decided that his dream job would be to become a baker. Anyhoo, I have this amazingly delicious recipe for 30 minute dinner rolls that Matt is pretty much obsessed with, but has always refused to help with because he's terrified of kneading dough. Anyway, he was feeling a bit adventurous the other day and decided he would try.

I mean, the facial expression says it all in this picture. Side note: Wiseman boys HATE touching food with their hands, so this was a pretty big feat for Mateo.

Look at him knead! Go Babe go!!

His little dough baby.

He was a very good student. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the finished product because we ate them all too fast... Seriously, they're that good!