All About Lila -- Part 1

In honor of Lila's 2nd birthday (coming this Sunday) I've decided to do a few post all about her. She does get a good bit of attention around here, but she thinks she could use a little bit more.

Last week she did a little photo shoot with Aunt Jess, Miss Darci and Miss Sarah for Jess's Etsy Shop (I should insert the link here, but I'm lazy. Click on Jess's blog and you can find it. They have great stuff :) Since then she is in love with modeling. She wanted me to take her picture in this dress and kept posing forever. Some of the poses were pretty hilarious and just plain weird, but she thought it was fun.

If only the weather were as warm as the dress suggests. I was putting some things that used to be Sunny's in Lila's side of the closet, so that's how she found the dress and wanted to wear it. Rest assured it is still fairly chilly outside.

I love her big blue eyes and her crazy hair. She has a ton of hair and I have no idea what to do with it. It is straight and fluffy on top and curly on the bottom.

Her latest news is that she is fully potty-trained. Well, it isn't really new, but I haven't blogged about it yet, so in that sense it is. I decided to potty train her in January. I was pretty sure she could do it, I just hoped she would do it fast. Well, she was (and is ) amazing! It took a few days and it really was no big deal, so she has officially been potty trained since early January, right before she turned 22 months.


Some of the most common things we hear from her these days are:

Carry me. Carry me. Carry me.

Daaaaaadddyyyy! (Sounds like he is in trouble)

Stop it Jackson. (Repeat over and over if he gets within a foot of her. Even if he is not bothering her.)

Wuv You!

That's cute (When we go shopping she loves to go slow and point out how cute everything is)


There are of course lots more because Lila is a talker. She talks non-stop from the minute she gets up until she goes to bed. You wouldn't know though unless you hang out around our house. She gets pretty quiet when we are around people.

More to come about my sweet Lila. Stay tuned for part 2.

Family Home Evening -- Week 11

(Sunny making our treat)

Jackson was in charge of the lesson this week. He decided to do it about Honesty. The lesson went something like this:

(Imagine a cute little Jackson voice saying this stuff.)


Dad, read this scripture and tell us what it means please. (Insert random scripture that had just about nothing to do with the lesson :)

Mom, please tell the story about the boy who cried wolf.


Now it is time for treats and an activity. The activity is to color pictures of
things Jesus made.



But, he was proud and happy to have taught the lesson. It was pretty funny. The best part for the kids was the treat. We made "No Fudge-Fudge".

The kids loved it, but Ryan said it was way to sweet and wouldn't touch it. I thought it was pretty good. Here is the recipe:

1 pound powdered sugar
1/3 cup Cocoa
3 ounces cream cheese
1 stick softened butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Place all ingredients in a one gallon zip lock bag. Take turns mixing the ingredients. When all ingredients are thoroughly mixed, mold the fudge into desired shape and place in freezer for 30 minutes. Remove fudge and EAT!

Latest and Greatest

Griffin has really been enjoying his little play table lately. He is working on standing and balancing, although he is not very good at it yet. He can stand for about 30 seconds and then he ends up on the ground.

Luckily he doesn't seem to mind falling and actually enjoys chewing on the sides of the toy. He is one happy baby today.

Party Time

Sunny was thrilled to be able to go to her BFF Makayla's Fancy Nancy birthday party. She decided to wear her tutu that Nana made last year and a gold and burgundy beaded necklace of mine. She was so excited and actually woke up at 1:00 a.m. the night before b/c she thought it was time to go. I couldn't help but smile as I watched her skip away down the sidewalk towards Makayla's.

The party was great and Sunny came home decked out in fancy stuff including this adorable pink and purple boa. She had a blast. We are so blessed to have such wonderful neighbors and friends. I don't know what Sunny ever did before Makayla. They are so sweet together and so very similar. I hope they stay friends for a long time!

Top 200

Sunny was so excited to show me her certificate for the Principal's Top 200 Club. She got it for "being kind to all." She has been wanting to get this since the beginning of the year when Jax did.

When Jax got home she showed him and he said, Yeah, I already know that. You got it when you missed school for your tooth. They called your name and I heard it." I kind of dismissed him and thought he was wrong. This morning I took a second look at the certificate and guess what...it was dated 1/23/10. The week she missed school for her tooth, Guess Jax knew what he was talking about after all.

Way to go Sunny. I'm so glad you are kind to everyone. What a good example you are to all of us around you. We are so proud of you.

Family Home Evening -- Week 10

I wanted to try to do something a little bit better this week, since we've been such slackers the last month. Last week we got our Friend magazine and I flipped through it and found an article about teaching the kids to mark their scriptures.

Why you would want to mark them.
How to mark them.
What colors to use
How to do it neatly

I decided that would be the perfect lesson to go along with them reading the Book of Mormon in Primary this year. I had Ryan pick up two new Book of Mormons for the kids and I told them to listen closely and that I had a big surprise for them. First we talked about the scriptures and how they were important and how to take care of them and then I gave them each their own copy. They were thrilled. We read through chapter 1 of 1st Nephi and discussed it. Then we talked about which scripture stood out the most to them and helped them highlight it.

We are going to find and mark an important scripture each week at the beginning of family night. I'm hoping for them to gain a familiarity with the Book of Mormon, and an understanding of how important it is. We also sang the songs "Scripture Power" ( an all time favorite of course) and I taught them "The Books of the Book of Mormon", which they kind of already knew, but we learned the second verse.

All in all it was a great lesson. It was one of those times I could tell they were listening and understanding and they were very into the lesson.

New Pictures

I took a few pictures of the kids today. I'm hoping to blow some of them up and use them on the big blank wall in my front room. I love this first one of all 4. I tried several times to get a good picture of them looking at me, but I realized it is impossible, so I decided to try a back view. I like it.

Lila was a nightmare to photograph. She was not cooperative and super whiny. This is the best I could do of her and it is a little blurry. She was having a rough day.

Jackson wasn't too into it either, but he did let me take a few of him. This is the only one that doesn't have his "different smile".

And of course, my little miss photogenic. She is so happy to have her picture taken and her ability to pose is amazing. I could take millions of her.

She is such a sweetie. Look how long her hair is getting.

My favorite of her.

Griffin was happy, but it was his first time outside and so he was too busy investigating the grass to look at the camera.