Stick Fight

Adam tried to cart around a long stick, or limb, and Sandy thought it was for her.  They both really like sticks.  Neither of them like to share.

More Castings

Mia Sara as my aunt Nell.   I've always thought they look SO similar. 
As a kid, I always thought my uncle Joel looked like the cowardly lion.  Not Bert Lahr, who plays the lion, but just the lion himself.

Casting Call

I got this idea from my friend, Lani.  You pick celebrities who would be cast in a movie about your family.  It's kind of fun.  Now I keep thinking about who everyone looks like.  I think these are pretty good matches.  I pick Sally Fields to play my mom.

Lindsay Lohan as my sister Brandalyn.  
Ethan Hawke as my brother-in-law, Gregory.
Sarah Chalke as my sister, Elise.
Vin Diesel as my husband, Riley.
And finally, Maggie Gyllenhall, as me.  Elise, help me out with Torye and Steve.  Maybe I'll try to do Riley's family and my kids later.

Basket Cake

Here's another look at the cake.  Not too close though.  It's not as good close up.  It's supposed to be a loaf of bread and an apple inside.  Must use imagination.  And cute Amy.

Crazy Amy

Here's Amy on the beach.  She was dancing around and singing and being silly.  No one usually sees her like this.  I'm glad I had the camera.

Amy's 5th Birthday Party

Amy asked for a Little Red Riding Hood party this year.  Here's what we did.The invitation
Blowing out the candles.  That's Sophia and Julia watching.
The girls each got a red hooded cape and we made food out of clay to put in their little baskets.  I think they had fun.  5 girls was just the right number.  There's Amy, Olivia, Carol, Sophia, Taryn, and Julia.

Duck Duck, Goose!

The only game Amy wanted to play at her party was duck duck, goose.  I almost forgot and was ready to send everyone home, when Amy said, "Mom!  Remember the game?!"  Only one injury to her friend, Julia, who slipped and ran into the piano bench.  Ouch!  Sorry Jessica!  But she got right back in the game, so I think she was OK. 

Basketball Game

Alright, the pictures got switched, but here's Adam at his game today.  He is #5.  Only 6 kids showed up, so Adam got to play the whole game.   It's more of a learning age, so they don't keep score and the referee explains each call.  Some of the kids are pretty good, some are not so good.  

Cold, cold January

We do not like the cold.  But, Sandy must go for a walk.  Here is a park we go to on our walks, but it is getting too cold to play for very long.  Somedays it's nice to get out, but this day was not fun.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

New Years Eve

Riley left on New Year's Eve, so after we dropped him off in the freezing cold, we went to the store and got goodies for the sleep out.  We picked jelly beans, popcorn, grape pop, and I made my favorite chex mix.  The kids were so excited to stay up till midnight and I had every intention of letting them, but as soon as they went to sleep, I was going to bed.  The girls made it to about 10:30.  I knew it wasn't long before Adam would go, but he was trying hard to fight it.  Around 11:00 he rolled over and was out.  I waited a little to be sure, but he was gone.  The next morning he was mad.  He claims he was not asleep, but he was.  Riley had been out in the cold the whole time waiting to get on the plane.  Sorry babe.

My favorite gift

Here's the clock all straightened out.  Thanks mom.  I did actually have it straight in my program, but it turned when it uploaded.  

Thanksgiving Pics

I have been getting some questions, mostly from my family, about where the Thanksgiving pictures are.  Instead of having to hunt for them, I decided to put them on my own site.  Enjoy.

Favorite Things

Adam's favorite gift was his huge bionicle that I don't remember the name.
Elli brought out everything she could for her favorite.  She really wanted a rolling backpack, but loved the camera and watch and legos she got, too.
Amy can't put down this crazy doll, Annabelle.  You can feed it and it will cry real tears.  After it eats, it yawns and takes a nap.  She loves it!

Me

Elli got a camera from Elise and was taking pictures all day, so Amy wanted to take some too.  Here's a quick one of me.  

Christmas Breakfast

This little breakfast has a few little stories behind it....  First, we had a nice waffle maker that got lost in one of the moves.  Every Sunday we have breakfast for dinner and haven't been able to have waffles for a few years.  Riley got me a Williams Sonoma waffle maker for Christmas, but I ruined the surprise and figured it out a while ago, still very excited to get it and use it nonetheless.   So I was very happy to make a special waffle breakfast.  The waffle maker worked great, the waffle mix was yummy and didn't need the last 3 eggs I had that I needed for the yummy pumpkin dessert I wanted to make, so I could still make the dessert, and we had plenty of syrup.  Sometimes we run low and Riley gets nervous.  But.....
..as we were eating, Elli pulled several glass chunks out of her mouth from her waffle.  I had given her the last waffle from the iron, trying to be nice by giving her a fresh, crispy waffle.  Well, as we were moving about 2 weeks ago, I was making trips back and forth from house to house and heard some glass fall on the floor as I was moving the kitchen stuff.  I have my glass, pyrex mixing bowls stacked together and I guess one chipped and the glass fell in the biggest bowl.  As I scraped the batter from the bowl for the last waffle, I must have scraped up the glass.  Hopefully she didn't eat any chunks.  Oopps!  We did have the leftover waffles the next morning and no one has had any glass in theirs.  

Christmas Eve

After the kids opened their Christmas pajamas, they picked out where they wanted to put their stockings.  Adam wanted a hint what his present was and I told him it had to do with a video game.  He was so excited to get to open it on Christmas Eve, so of course was disappointed to find Mario and Luigi on his pajamas.  He was sure it was a new Wii game.  
Riley has been asking for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, so that is what Santa got too.  Elli thought he would like 4.
Amy wanted to check out how Santa would come in.  She was worried he would fall on the little rack that's for wood and get poked.

Elli and Katie

Elise was watching Horton Hears a Who and thought that the little fluffy thing looks just like Elli.  They kind of act the same too.  Elli is always off in her own world singing and talking to herself and saying funny stuff.  I'll try to put up the clip Elise found for us too.

Gingerbread House

The kids have been asking and asking to put this thing together.  Once they mentioned it to their friends, it was over.  Breanne and Adam did the frosting and everyone put the candy on.  I like it to sit out and look pretty for a couple days at least, but as soon as the last piece of candy was on they wanted to eat it.  Oh well.  

Walk on the Rocks

Amy and I were trying to take Flat Stanley out on the beach that we go to for some friends in Utah.  The tide was pretty low so we were able to go farther than normal.  It was pretty warm too.