More of the Girls

My friend, Jill (Frost Fotography), took pictures of the girls last week. Here's a slideshow of some of my favorites. Thanks SO MUCH, Jill!

A Night At the Symphony

The News Director at Jared's work bought extra tickets to the symphony and invited us to join them! It was the night after Thanksgiving and was at their new facility, the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Not only is the building beautiful, but the music was wonderful and they brought in local soloists and a gospel choir to enhance the music. It was REALLY good! We had a blast (especially without kids)! Thank you Cutlers!

Three Wisewomen

They're all bundled up with no place to go. . .for snow. No snow here in Tennessee! WOO-HOO! That's something I definitely don't miss!

Warm Wishes

These pictures were taken by Amy Lynn Photography. How's that for advertising, Amy? She's starting a photography business in the near future and she used my girls to help build her portfolio. Thanks for taking the time to do this, Amy!

Making Elves of Themselves

Click the following link to see a holiday wish from our three little people!
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9613534248

I'm Thankful for My Little Indian

Scotty's Thanksgiving Program was yesterday. She did such a good job! I'm so proud of her! She had a special part in the program where she has to hug a pilgrim and everybody sighed at how cute it was! She was a hit!

Science Fair Smarty Pants

I'm so proud of my Brynny! She and her friend, Carley won Third Place for their class in the school's Science Fair. They did their Science Project on Taste Buds and how smell affects them. Good job, Bryn & Carley!

Gratitude

Tennessee in the fall is just gorgeous! This is what it looks like outside my window the last few weeks (although my camera wouldn't pick up such beautiful colors but this is really how vibrant they are). Today my friend Jill and I went to lunch at the new Olive Garden (at Providence for those of you in TN). It was so fun getting to know her better. She's an amazing photographer and takes unique pictures of her beautiful 3 little girls (just like me!--the 3 girls part that is). Her hubby, Seth watched the girls. WOW! I needed that! Life has been crazy busy lately and it was nice to just really breathe and enjoy the changes in the seasons and the beauty around me and to be truly grateful for all the ways I've been blessed. Thanks, Jill!

Mates

Tonight before bed, Coco decided to dress up like a pirate. She walked around saying, "I pirate, I pirate" and growled. She burped and looked surprised and then said, "I boop, cuze me." Scotlyn was mad that she got her p.j.'s on and didn't get to dress up like her "room-matey", Coco. Arrrrr. . .

Swingin Kids

We went to our friend's house today to watch the BYU football game via their slingbox. BYU won! Our friend's son, Sean, and Coco were playing in their backyard on their swing. It was just a snapshot of sweetness and I wanted to share.

The Darndest Things

When we were going to the Trunk-or-Treat Saturday, an ambulance was wailing and going toward our church (a fire alarm went off because of a fog machine). Anyway, Scotty was really worried about it and said, "I wonder if somebody needs a bandaid". Then the other day I took a little girl home from school and when I dropped her off I said, "Bye Taylor, see ya later sweety!" Well, Coco chimed in and said, "Bye shhweety!"

Treats for My Pretties

The Buzz on Halloween

This picture was taken at our ward's Trunk-or-Treat Saturday. I will have pictures of the other girls later on tonight but I just wanted to post this because it's so cute! Today I had my friends Angie & Krystin over to hang out and we had so much fun talking and laughing. We have lots in common and we have the same style in crafts so we are excited to get together and craft! I think I'll make it a Halloween tradition to do something like that before the kiddos come home and the chaos begins. Happy Halloweenie!

It's Fall Ya'all

Scotty and her table-mates making their candy-corn crafts.

Scarecrow with Scotty and friends.

Today was Scotty's Fall Harvest Party at school. They don't allow children to dress up at school here in TN or use the word Halloween. Since I am the room parent, I had to organize the party and I'm so happy it's over. We played pin-the-heart-on-the-scarecrow and made a cute candy corn craft. They ate and ate and had a great time. Happy fall ya'all!

Five Love Languages

This was the book we read for last month. It was a "self-help" book on relationships and the different love languages and dialects. It was insteresting to find out what my love language is and what Jared's is as they are completely different. The 5 languages are these: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch. Read this to better understand your relationships--not only with your spouse but your children or other family members or friends. It's very interesting!

The Alchemist

I just read this book for Book Club and it was different. For lack of better words to describe it, here is a review by Publisher's Weekly:

This inspirational fable by Brazilian author and translator Coelho has been a runaway bestseller throughout Latin America and seems poised to achieve the same prominence here. The charming tale of Santiago, a shepherd boy, who dreams of seeing the world, is compelling in its own right, but gains resonance through the many lessons Santiago learns during his adventures. He journeys from Spain to Morocco in search of worldly success, and eventually to Egypt, where a fateful encounter with an alchemist brings him at last to self-understanding and spiritual enlightenment. The story has the comic charm, dramatic tension and psychological intensity of a fairy tale, but it's full of specific wisdom as well, about becoming self-empowered, overcoming depression, and believing in dreams. The cumulative effect is like hearing a wonderful bedtime story from an inspirational psychiatrist.

That Bites!

A dog bit Scotlyn right above her eye yesterday. She was quite distraught and tried hard to be brave but it was pitiful. It really is a nice dog but just not used to children. My girls are used to being able to sit on, step on, and hug on Turk so they don't realize that other dogs may not be as tolerant. This picture doesn't really show off her battle wound but she wanted me to put it on my blog so here it is.

I've Been Tagged

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

I have been tagged by Joanna Humpherys

Six Facts/Habits about myself:
1. My ankles crack/snap almost every step I make.
2. My worst habit is that I bite my nails way too much and most of the time I don't even know I'm doing it.
3. Everyday I worry about somebody in my immediate family dying (I think it's because my dad died when I was a little girl).
4. Hello. My name is Sandy and I'm a sudoku addict.
5. When I work out, I do it for at least 2 hours at a time--sometimes 3 hours.
6. Doing almost anything educational/inventive/creative makes me happy.

I tag: Chantal, Amy, Kerrah, Gina, Gail, Holly and Leitte

No Dum Dum

Coco is still having problems with pronunciation although she's doing 100 times better in speaking and expressing. Lately she's been asking for "dum" which is code for "gum." She stands in the kitchen, points to the cupboard that houses all our gum (we have a lot of gum) and says, "Mama, I dum. Pweez, mama? I (want) dum". It reminds me of that scene in "A Night at the Museum": "No gum-gum for my dum-dum" or something like that.

Shop Til We Drop

Today Coco and I went with Joanna and Nate shopping. Joanna and I are both head room parents for our Kindergarteners' classes and we were shopping for ideas and supplies. Here in TN, they only allow Fall Harvest Parties--not Halloween parties. The children cannot wear Halloween costumes in the schools. Weird, I know. So, we will have our Fall Harvest Party. These pictures (taken with a camera phone) were taken at the Opry Mills Mall. Coco was so pooped by the end she passed out in the stroller! Now that's my shop til you drop girl!

Family Time

Louisville Sluggers

We took a day trip to Louisville yesterday. We went to the Louisville Slugger Museum and took a tour of the factory where they make all of their bats. We were able to see many cool things and the girls actually liked it a lot because they remembered famous names from the movie "The Sandlot." Bryn was amazed that we actually got to see "The Great Bambino's" bat and Shoeless Joe Jackson's.

After we were done at the museum we went to see my Uncle Cleve & Aunt Evelyn who live in the Louisville area. They have a beautiful home and it was wonderful to visit with them. It was so fun to spend time with family. It's my only connection I have to my dad. My Uncle Cleve looks a lot like my dad and sounds how I remember my dad sounding. We met up with their daughter, Stacey, her husband, Doug and son, Sam. They were all so fun and were so gracious to us and took us out to eat at a fantastic Mexican restaurant. I can't wait to visit them again! I can't believe it took us a year to get there in the first place--they are less than 3 hours away!

Ballerina Girl

The Nashville Ballet came to the Mt. Juliet Community Center to perform Aesop's Fables which was really cool. After they were done they invited all BOYS to come up and show everyone their ballet moves. Well, McKoy just ran for the stage and all the boys were irritated but it was really funny. She just kept doing what the performers were doing. She was a hit!

A Spectacle of Myself

My glasses came in today! They are a such strong prescription that my eyes look small and funky, but I hope to only wear them at night. It's harder than I thought to take a picture of myself--sorry about the lighting.

Nashville or Bust

One year ago today we rolled into Nashville after about 3 1/2 days on the road. Although it was stressful having to pack our family up and get here in just 2 weeks, we had a great time on the road. Jared drove the huge moving truck with a trailer holding the car, and I drove the minivan. He alternated having Bryn and Scotty ride with him and Turk, and I always had Coco and one of the other girls. We communicated with our walkie talkies and I'm sure some truckers who were on our frequency found it entertaining. The whole experience was an adventure that was a little frightening but exciting at the same time. I was so sad to leave family and friends behind, but I am so grateful for the friends I've gained here. I really am happy here!

My American Girls

Today Bryn and Scotlyn, along with friend, Ashley, went to an American Girl Tea Party. While they ate cookies and sipped lemonade (a very southern thing) they learned about the American Girl, Julie Albright (a '70's girl) and made pet rocks. Bryn tried to tell me how old I am since I was born in the 1970's. No parents, boys or girls under 5 were allowed to attend so the girls felt very grown-up. For those of you unfamiliar with American Girl, it is a company that celebrates girls through books, dolls, magazines, movies, and stores. All of the items help foster girls' individuality, intellectual curiousity, and imagination. (www.americangirl.com)

Spellbinding

Kindergarten has been good to Scotty. She is learning to read and now she spells everything to me. Today she said, "Mommy why don't we have any a-p-p-l-e-s?" Yesterday it was, "Why can't K-o-b-e come over?" "Can we have p-i-z-z-a for dinner?" Everyday it's a new word. I guess this ends the era of Jared and I spelling secretive things to one another in front of our girls. D-o-h! (That one's for Jared)

This picture was taken in the newsroom at Jared's work.