Trae is my little sioux chef!! He loves to help me in the kitchen. This is the only way we can keep him from opening the oven...we strap him in his high chair and give him oven mitts. When he hears the timer go off he comes running from wherever he is, opens the drawer of oven mitts, gets 2 out and either puts them on and tries to open the oven, or he brings them to me. He's so funny, and handsome, i might add!

This morning was a crazy morning for me. I realized that today is Winni's last Sunday in nursery. Next week will be the new year and she will start attending Primary as a Sunbeam!! When I realized this I looked at Walter and started bawling!! I don't know if I'm ready for my little girl to be a Sunbeam!! I'm excited for her to have more practice sitting still and for her to learn more songs about Jesus, but my baby is growing up!! Next thing you know she is going to be in Preschool!! I think my trouble is the fact that I asked if she could start Sunbeams this year, instead of next. She turns 3 on January 29th, so technically she should be in Sunbeams til next year, but I didn't want her to be almost 4 and still in nursery and then after a year of her and Trae being in nursery together, she leaves him. So, we decided on this arrangement. I just cry over everything! Winni growing up to fast, this baby not coming fast enough! My poor husband, good thing he is sensitive and understanding!!

1 MONTH TO GO!!!

More of our Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas! We enjoyed a relaxing day and didn't want to get out of our jammies! Well, everyone but Winni. She woke up at 6 AM wanting breakfast. We fed both kids a little and Winni decided she wanted to get dressed. She was so ornery that we got her dressed and put her back to bed. She didn't get up again til we woke her up at 9!! I got a Scentsy warmer, which is like a wickless candle, and Walter got Karaoke Revolution and Dance Dance Revolution for the Wii. We are having fun showing off our "skills," or lack thereof! We also enjoyed phone calls from friends and family all over the world! This Christmas just seemed perfect! We took it easy on the spending and really found the joy of Christmas in just being together as a family!


Winni & me waiting for Santa to come on Christmas Eve. Winni set out cookies and milk for Santa, then she decided he might need a chair to sit in while he enjoys his snack. So, she went and got him one of her little plastic yellow chairs to sit in! If she only knew just how big Santa's backside is these days!!!!


Winni was having fun taking pictures with my camera. Here is her view of Billy, Walter's cousin. No wonder she screams when she sees him! hahahah


Christmas morning! Trae got a tool bench, which Winni loves, and he also got this cool remote control truck!


Walter & Trae


Winni got a Barbie VW Bug, which Trae loves, and a lot of Dora toys.

I got a new camera for Christmas!! yeah!! I'm having so much fun taking pictures and then putting my camera into my purse or pocket so it can travel with me wherever I go. It's fantastic! I feel so free!!!!!!!



Walter and Winni posed for me!



Winni got this wand with her Dora pajamas on Christmas Eve. She calls it her "resto" because on Super Readers one of the girls uses her wand to write words and then she says, "presto!" I'm not sure why my husband is posing with the wand, instead of his tooth in, but either way we got a great picture, which will be a perfect campaign picture someday. I mean, isn't this the type of person you would like to have running our country??




We had so much fun playing "playground" on the wii on Christmas Eve. This is Cora and Garret playing dodgeball, I believe.



Mark, enjoying the perfect snowy evening.



Winni just absolutely loves AJ! Everytime I told her to say cheese, she would pose, then say, "wait a minute, just one second!" She would either run to where AJ was or pull him to where she was to take the picture!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! This is how my brain works on Christmas....all jumbled and confused, but it all works out in the end! :) enjoy!!

Gramps and Nana gave Winni this, uh, headpiece?? for Christmas! Actually, it is a fairy tutu, but Winni has decided it looks better around her head!



It is, again, time for Trae to get a haircut! We made sure to enjoy a few days of mohawks before we cut it all off again!

mmmmmmm......Cinnamon Rolls!!



Julie found this website, www.thepioneerwomancooks.com, she has some great recipes, but the one we love the most is her Cinnamon Roll recipe! It is a little time consuming, but most of the time is spent doing nothing, but they are so worth it! She has a maple frosting that calls for coffee, so we just used cream cheese frosting. OH MY GOODNESS!! They were so good that Kari called me up and cussed at me for making them. Now that's good!!

We always have fun when Gwen comes over to play. We might not have a nice sledding hill, but we still found a way to fall off the sled...



My little beauty queen! I just love this face!! She found out how yummy snow is! She has to taste the snow every time we go outside, then she turns to me and says, "Mmmmm....tasty!"





Gwen attack!!



My cute kids, getting ready for the fun in store for them!

Well, after some colorful comments about my picture I'm guessing I've confused or mislead some of you. Yes, I am pregnant, but not in that picture. And no, I don't look like that anymore. All I can say to those who didn't like or don't approve of my picture is this...

"And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same." ~Nelson Mandela

So, with that said, thank you for the kind comments. As for the other comments, just keep them to yourselves! Well, at least I feel better now. Moving right along....


Here is how I really look, today, 8 months pregnant, in all my prenatal glory. With all you experts out there, I'm asking.....Boy or Girl!?!?!

WOW! I am such a slacker!! I have just been enjoying reading other blogs that I haven't had the desire to add to mine! I still think my kids are the cutest and my friends and family are the coolest, I've just been in one of those moods lately where thinking about the positive things in my life would help me forget how uncomfortable this belly is getting and how much I'd rather just stay in bed all day. And who wants to be happy this time of year, really!! OK, I do! So, in an effort to bring myself and my millions of devoted readers some happiness, I will open my front door once again and let you all come in and enjoy the mess we call life!

VIEWER BEWARE!! PICTURES NOT APPROPRIATE FOR YOUNG MISSIONARY EYES!! :)

What better way to get back on the blogging bandwagon than to post a picture of myself, looking my best. Well, except for all the fake body paint and globs of make-up....not to mention the modesty of my attire, but isn't that the nature of the past. We learn from it. So next time, maybe a little less makeup!!! hahaha



I know, it's far from the 13 year old challenge, but dang! I once looked really good!! And that's how I got my hot husband. If he only knew what was in store through the baby years.......

Our first big snow fall! I know it's been like 2 weeks since this snow fall, but my kids are so dang cute! Here they are all wrapped up, getting ready to go play in the snow...


Luckily, this picture doesn't show their feet! I couldn't find Trae's boots, so he got to wear Winni's rain boots, which are pink kitties! He didn't seem to mind too much.



He loved the snow....until he fell over a few times and couldn't keep his gloves on. Poor kid! He lasted a good little while out there, and we've still got the cold to remember his fun by!



Winni could stay in the snow all day long! She absolutely loved it! She realized how much she loves the taste of snow, too! I just had to make sure she ate the fresh stuff...mmmmm yummmm!!!

Well, if I wasn't the coolest person you know already.....

You Are Buffy the Vampire Slayer

"We saved the world. I say we have to party."

What Superheroine Are You?

The weekend after Thanksgiving we had fun putting up Christmas decorations. I decided that this year I would save my sanity and not put out my mother's precious porcelain nativity or anything else that my kids could destroy. We also decided, like last year, that we would put the tree in the port-a-crib so that the ornaments stay on the tree, the tree stays upright, and the gifts stay wrapped. Hopefully it will work as well as it did last year. I "allowed" Walter and the students to decorate the tree and they did a great job. All I had to do was ask them to start over 1 time, when they used only one string of lights for the whole tree. We had a moment of education, and then they went on to do a fantastic job!




Winni got into the holiday spirit and decided she would dress up for this special family tradition.




If only I'd known the new dress code for Christmas decorating was swimsuits and pasty white legs....I could have turned a few heads!




Lastly, Walter got the train out. We decided to do without the train last year since Trae had just become mobile and for some reason we couldn't get the train to work. This year it works great! I only have to superglue it back together every time the kids get a hold of it. But other than that, our holiday decorations, inside, are complete!

HAPPY DECEMBER!! We woke up this morning to lots and lots of snow! It has been snowing all morning and it just keeps coming! It's days like this I wish Walter didn't have drill so we could go sledding or do something fun. Maybe we'll have to venture out by ourselves! Luckily, Julie came over yesterday and we got the crocus' in the ground. Hopefully they will bloom nicely in the spring!


Winni loves satsumas! We recently started buying them when my in-laws were in town because Maddy loves them and can't find them in Georgia. They are like tangerines and clementines, only without seeds! It's perfect! She shoves her thumb through the middle and wears it for a minute, then she turns to me and asks, "Mommy, will you pickle this for me?"

If the VECA (Vegetable Eating Council of America), ok, I know it's got a different name, but I don't know that name!! Anyway, if they could only get Winni to do commercials for them, all kids would want to eat more veggies. Either that or the parents will wonder what I drug my kid with to get her so excited for veggies. People are always so shocked that my daughters favorite "treat" is peas, and my sons as well. I don't know why but they love peas so much. They love them for breakfast, lunch, snack, anytime. Winni would take peas over ice cream or chocolate milk anytime! Right now Winni has chosen to eat oranges and green peppers, instead of shells and cheese. The reason I bring this up is because yesterday as we were grocery shopping, she was driving me crazy!! She was grabbing stuff off the shelves and putting it into our cart. I felt like the worst parent when I said, "Winni, put that bag of stuff back!" We were in the beans and legumes area. She said, "But Mommy, I like them. It's peas!" It was a bag of pea lentils. Then when we got to the produce she started filling a bag with green peppers. She asked if we were going to get bananas. She went over to the broccoli and tried to break some off so she could eat it! I told her not to. She asked if we have broccoli at home and I told her we did. At that point she started running around the cart, cheering, "Yeah! We have broccoli at home!" She made sure we got potatoes. She let me know that we need more carrots because she ate them all. How did I get cursed with such a wonderful daughter! BTW, for those of you who are concerned about this entry, knowing that Winni is a petite girl, dont be! She eats other things too. I am just trying to encourage these healthy food choices while I can. She is healthy and very smart!

We survived all 3 hours of church today!! Yeah! Last week we went home during sacrament meeting because our kids had had it! I guess we were better prepared this week. Relief Society was great. The thing I enjoyed most was being reminded that a mother who knows who she is...knows when do to less. Meaning when to back down and let her children be independent, when to say no, when to be more simple. However, the best part of church was during sacrament meeting. I packed a pb&j for Winni and Trae, then Trae fell asleep. Of course, it wasn't until during a quiet moment church when Winni was feeling my leg that she found the crease under my knee, then she announced to the ward, "Mommy, I found your bumb!" Ahhhh.....I'm so proud!

Good-bye Gramps and Nana. They left early this morning and are well on there way back to Georgia. In honor of their visit, please enjoy this slideshow of some of the fun things we did with them.

And a Happy Black Friday to you!! I swore I wasn't going to go out with all the crazy's today, but around 3 PM I gave in and headed to Wal-Mart.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! This year Thanksgiving was up to me. We had a small crowd with Walter's dad and step-mom, our family of 4 and our 4 students. I got an early start on my cooking, I started on monday!! Throughout the week I slowly got things put together and into the fridge, waiting for Thanksgiving day to cook them. I would definitely do it this way again! Today felt restful, rather than stressful. We were invited to Trent and Julie's for breakfast.



Julie, and my profile! very impressive



Winni & Eli



Libby, Zack, Eli & Winni



Tyler



Quinci w/ Jacki

We used to have pie for breakfast, but decided that this year we would break tradition and have pumpkin waffles with cinnamon syrup. It might as well be pie, its soooo good! It tastes like pumpkin pie!! Then we headed home to get the turkey in the oven.

We sat down to eat at about 3:30, and if I say so myself, it was delicious!! The turkey was perfect. We couldn't even get it from the bag to the serving dish, it just fell apart. We also had homemade rolls with whipped honey, creamy mashed potatoes with turkey dripping gravy, brown sugared sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, homemade stuffing, canned cranberry sauce, and homemade punch, and for dessert...pecan pie, struessel topped pumpkin pie, and pumpkin cheesecake. However, we were all too full to touch the pies. I think we will eat them for breakfast tomorrow. Sounds like a new tradition, leftover pie for breakfast the day after Thanksgiving!



Our beautiful table with the hostess who, apparently, sampled too many desserts as she cooked!!



After making a wish, I won!! Walter was so upset, but his wishes always come true! Hopefully my wish will come true too....January 9th here we come!!



The boys taking care of clean up!

Today as we were driving home from Park City, Winni paid me a great compliment! She said, "Mommy, I can't find your butt!" OK, so maybe I took it as a compliment and it was meant as an insult. Maybe it's cause I was sitting on it.....oh well, it got me to blog again.

Winni came out of her room today with her swimsuit in hand as she was ripping her clothes off. "I'm going to the Beach mommy! I want to go swim in the ocean!" What am I supposed so say?? So, I say, "OK honey, have fun!" I thought maybe she was confused by our beach-like front yard....or maybe not.

So, I gained 8 lbs this month! Woo Hoo! You'd think, "ah, that's ok, the baby had a growth spurt..." or something along those lines. Well, unless this is a really really big baby, I think it might be time I take inventory on myself! I mean, really, this baby has had a growth spurt this month, last month (6 lbs), and the month before (9 lbs). Can I really expect a 20+ lb baby.....time to spend less time blogging and more time walking.

The In-Laws have arrived!!



Gramps and Nana Gunter got here Friday morning and we are having so much fun with them!! As we were waiting for them to get off the plane, Walter and I started a little bet as to what kind of hat his dad would be wearing....retired Navy, camouflage, or Georgia Dawgs. Well, I won on the hat, retired Navy, but Walter wasn't completely wrong. Walt Sr showed up in a Georgia Bulldogs sweatshirt with a camouflage coat over top. Dang, do we know him or what?!?! They have successfully spoiled my children, and now they are rotten! They went to Antelope Island and downtown SLC and, of course, Hill AFB to the PX. Then they came back and showered Winni and Trae with Christmas gifts. Trae got a little motorcycle, a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer doll, and Donkey, from Shrek. Winni got a tricycle, which she calls her "bike-icle", Clarice, Rudolph's friend, and Shrek's baby. They are having so much fun with their new treasures. We also got some books and movies, all 3 Shrek's and Jungle Book. We had a fun practice "Christmas," and we now know that Winni will be very helpful to Trae when it comes to opening gifts. She just tears everything up while he is still playing with the first box he got. Gramps and Nana will be here til Friday. Winni sometimes gets confused and call them Gramps and Grandpa, I guess we'll have to work on her. Sometimes she refers to Nana as "her!" Oh well, eventually she'll get it all figured out. At least they know they are loved!

What a fun and dirtful day we had!!

Thank You to all those who helped!! We got the grass out, the leaves cleaned up, the greenhouse finished, and the kids on a walk! Whew! I'm tired!!

Another cooking club night, which means I get to come home to some fun surprises!! After a wonderful night of great food and spa treatments I returned home to find everything pretty normal, so I went to bed. 6:30 AM I woke up to Winni looking for me in the kitchen, so I went out to tell her good morning!! I was a little shocked, but not so much considering my kids' fetish with shoes, but this is what I found...



Look closely, as this will be the new trend in New York, pajamas with snow boots!!



I asked Winni if she put her boots on when she woke up? or if she slept with them on? I was sure she was going to tell me she just put them on, but sure enough she said she had slept in them. I was curious, so I asked Walter when he woke up if he had put Winni to bed with her boots on? All he said was this, "It was a hard night and she didn't want to go to sleep. I got mad at her and put her in her bed. I thought she would take them off and go to sleep, but I guess she slept with them on." He followed it with, "I'm a good dad. I went in and covered her up with her blanket, once she was asleep!" Well, I guess if it snows in our house in the middle of the night, Winni will be prepared!

Our heater has been slowly dying, and last night in the middle of the night it officially died! We woke up this morning to a freezing 63 degrees!! whew! It was cold! We were either bundled up or under a blanket.



Trae was unwilling to sit under the blanket with us so I got him dressed.....



Yes, those would be his pajamas under his clothes. It works when camping, why not now!?!?

Aren't they cute little frozen children!!

So, I was doing my blog stalking for the day and found this on someone's blog. I thought it was so funny. He has a lot of other funny youtube videos out there. I thought of many of you as I watched them...

Alright, so I'm not saying that whatever name wins will be my child's name...(disclaimer for Walter), but this poll will definitely help me narrow the choices down. Next week I will have some boy names, and finally I will have a poll as to the gender of this child. I'm so excited to find out!! So, with that said, I am not limited or set on the names on the poll, so if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I've already got a Winifred and a Walter, III, so really, nothing is too crazy!! Happy voting!!

Tonight I decided to take Winni on a Mommy-Daughter date. We went to see the high school's production of Cinderella! I thought she would love it and it would give us a chance to spend some time together. As we were leaving home, Walter and Trae were about to enjoy some cheese. We started out the night with Winni upset because she wanted to stay home and eat cheese.



We got to the high school and found some seats where Winni would be able to see the stage. She was very active and excited, but I was sure she would sit still and watch it like she watches TV. And I was wrong!! Right before the show started, a tall man sat in front of us, so Winni was going between 3 chairs, including my lap, to see different parts of the play. I kept telling her to sit still and watch the show. She let me know that it wasn't a show because it's not a movie on TV. I didn't think she was getting much of the musical, but about 5 minutes after the opening song she started singing, "The Prince is giving a ball!!" It was so funny. We made it to intermission and went into the foyer to run off some energy.



This is what she did during intermission! When it was time to go back in for the 2nd half of the show, she refused! "I don't want to see the show!" "I don't like Cinderella!" "I want to go home and see Daddy and Trae and eat cheese!" So, we headed home to eat cheese with Daddy and Trae, but not before stopping at Starbucks! I had earned myself a 400+ calorie Strawberries and Creme drink! (Don't worry mom, it's coffee free!!)

Our morning routine!

After breakfast, Winni and Trae like to destroy my kitchen!


They pull out all my hot pads and towels and pretend to sleep!



BTW, that it not a rash on Trae's face, that would be the jam from his toast.