the jewkes

2012-01-27T15:16:00.002-07:00

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What happens when you let your child wear whatever she wants??

You get...no clothes, one golden shoe, a helmet, and a shield.

She will be a trendsetter I tell you.

2012-01-27T15:00:00.002-07:00

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Layla turns 2.

Like the good parents we are, we opted to go on a cruise while our one and only daughter had her second birthday. Parents of the year strike again! Luckily, she has a nice Aunt Hannah who made her cupcakes and threw her a birthday party.

2012-01-07T23:04:00.003-07:00

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Caribbean Cruise 2011

At the beginning of November my dad and Julie took us on a cruise...not just any cruise...a cruise without kids! Don't get me wrong, I adore my children, but this was 10 days of absolute relaxation and indulgence (I've never eaten so much in all my life). We slept in every day...actually there were no windows in our cabin so I would wake up thinking it was 8 or 9 and it would be NOON!

The shows were fabulous, the excursions were fabulous, and the food was fabulous! Paul got hypnotized at a hypnotist show and had to deliver a huge baby and was also a backup dancer for Lady Gaga (if any of you know Paul's dance skills you will know THAT was entertaining).

We went on a Jeep safari in Aruba, swam at the most beautiful beaches, witnessed two guys doing a mankini stroll (you know who you are), and we danced at the club with old people every night.

If you haven't been on a cruise go! If you have ever felt self-conscious in a swimming suit...you won't on a cruise! It's FULL of old, wrinkly, fat people in bikinis and speedos...you will feel like a super model!

Well, unfortunately I was SO incredibly lazy about bringing my camera with me anywhere (and all I brought was my teeny point and shoot camera)that I hardly have any pictures of anything. My sister Kilie was there too, but she's not in any of my pictures. She was sleeping :) It looks like I'm going to have to mooch pictures from the rest of my family :) At any rate, we had an absolute blast! Thank you, thank you Dad and Julie it was pure bliss!

2012-01-05T22:43:00.003-07:00

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Four under four

A few months ago we had the opportunity to watch our nephews for ten days while my bro and sis in laws went to Mexico. I'll have to admit I was a little intimidated at first to have four kids under four...but really it was pretty fun! I even braved taking them out in public quite often :) Whenever I would go anywhere the looks on people's faces made me laugh...I knew they thought all of those kids were mine (even though I wish they were). I miss them so much and wish that they lived closer to us. Thank you Hannah and KC for entrusting your boys to us and THANK YOU SO MUCH for watching our kids when we went on our trip. It was perfect timing and a perfect trade:)

2012-01-05T22:10:00.007-07:00

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The Candy Ninja.

Back track to the middle of September. Zander conjures up in his mind the idea of a "Candy Ninja"... whom apparently is a real ninja that goes door to door and delivers candy to children.

Luckily my mom was in town and took his candy ninja idea to heart. After a trip to Walmart (just the two of them), and some eyelash batting (from Zander), he arrived at home fully equipped to transform into the candy ninja that evening.

We prepped the treats and right before sundown the stealthy ninja set off on his adventure. I was so impressed, Zander stayed in character the entire time and never let anyone know his true identity.

The neighbor kids loved the treats! I wish with all my heart that I would have gotten a picture of Zander's little friend Mason. He was absolutely amazed at Zander and had no idea that it was him in costume. To this day I think little Mason believes in the candy ninja. I think this might need to become an annual tradition.

2012-01-05T16:40:00.008-07:00

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First day of school.

I'm pretty sure this happens every year...the holidays come and go and I've taken so many pictures that blogging becomes overwhelming for me. I get to where I don't even know where to start! Well...I've decided I'm going to pretend like it's the end of August and blog about my boy's first day of school. Yes, I'm THAT far behind! Oh well, that is life sometimes.

Anywho, my little Zander-man started his second year of preschool and has grown up so much over the past year. I still have my struggles with him but he has blossomed into a sweet, soft hearted little boy. I've said this a million times, but he definitely is his own man. He is constantly making me laugh with the things he says and does. As many of you know, he has such a strong personality BUT I think that is his biggest strength.

Z-bug we love you so much! We are so happy that you are a part of our family. You bring so much joy and laughter into our home and have taught us so much. We are VERY proud of you and can't wait to see what the future holds for you.

XOXO,
Mom and Dad

2011-12-24T23:56:00.006-07:00

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I'm not quite sure why these are looking so pink, but at any rate...I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas. We love you!

2011-12-23T11:29:00.003-07:00

St. George Marathon 2011

Paul here- Feel free to skip this post and wait for the return of the talented Jessica posts later on. For now...It's my turn. ;)
"I want to thrive, not just survive" started going through my mind back in April of this year. I set a goal and nothing was going to stop me this time.

Rewind back to 1987. I was 6 yrs old.
The "Marathon Moms" was a group of mothers that set out to finish a marathon. My wonderful and inspiring mother was one of those women that set out to finish that daunting task. I remember one morning the news came to interview them as they shuffled their kids out the door so they could go for a run. I was in awe. It was magic to see the news people so interested in what my mom was trying to do. I was intrigued and inspired. From that moment on I always knew I would run a marathon someday. I didn't understand the pain, the suffering, the time it would take, or the sacrifices that would be made. It didn't matter.

Current.
After many years of putting it aside, it was finally time. 2011 was going to be my year! I turned 30 in May and figured there was no better year to run a marathon. It started with the gathering of friends. I couldn't do this alone. We tossed the idea around the neighborhood and quickly found a group of 8 or so that were interested. Long hours ensued.
I was running daily- sometimes twice a day. A runners high was all too real.
Enter June 1st and 110 degree heat.
Running in St. George in the middle of the summer was not an easy task. It was hard for me to want to get up at 4:00am with the others, so I would make due at midnight. It was still 100 degrees often. To top it off, we had the most humid summer ever. I don't know what happened to that "dry heat" we all experience down here, but this was downright nasty.
Finally October 1st came. Family came to town to support me, and this was actually happening! I didn't sleep much the night of, and figured I wouldn't.

Race morning was magical. I was determined to run in between 3:45 and 4:00. Part of me said it was OK to just finish...but there was an aching inside to get a great time.
The gun went off, I started out strong. We hung with the 3:45 pace runner.
Mile 5, passed,
Mile 7 and the dreaded Veyo hill,
Mile 13- I was half way there.
Mile 17- The 3:45 pacer went on by. "That's OK" I thought... I'm still WAY ahead of the 4:00 pace.
Mile 20- Now I am reaching a point I have never been too. This was new territory...

I saw a friendly face in Brock as he passed on by. We stretched for a minute and I told him I was done. I could tell he didn't need the negative energy and he kept on trucking. I saw Taylor pass on by and didn't have the energy...or the heart to call out to him. Just let him finish strong.
Then it happened. The runners wall. I had hit it square in the nose. I had had a hard time finding nutrition other than bananas and gatorade along the way... I needed something with some calories. I'm not sure why others were seeming to find food, but I never did.
I started doing the "wander" as I walked for the next 2 miles. Deliriously deciding to stop and stretch on occasion. watching as passing vans picked up other athletes. It was only the thoughts of my amazing family hanging out at the finish line that kept me going.

Mile 24- A voice of encouragement called out. It was my brother-in-law Adam! This was JUST what I needed. A running partner. A fresh pair of legs to help me along. He wasn't racing that day, but ran along side me at a really great pace for the final 2 miles. His words of encouragement will go down in history! I can never repay him for what he did that day. I saw his mom and had her call my parents at the finish line- Let them know I would make it although 45 minutes later than expected. I saw my dad on the corner just a few blocks out! Then came the finish chute! I had done it! ( I have the chills just telling this story) I frantically looked around the crown for my family. Adam had dropped off to let me finish. There they were!! Jessica, the kids, my mom, my in-laws. Everyone was cheering ME on! Jesi jumped in with me and ran the final 100 yards (in flip flops with camera on neck) It was one of the happier moments of my life. I wouldn't have it any other way than to have her finishing with me! I had "finished the course." My goal was complete, and I was a new man. Everyone that can- should experience what I just experienced. You learn to dig deep, find out what you are made of. Thanks to everyone that supported me even if it was just with a phone call the next day. I owe you all!

2011-11-09T22:50:00.004-07:00

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Halloween 2011

This year was so much fun with the kids...they LOVED everything about it! You know your old though when nobody knows what your dressed up as. Paul's costume got some interesting reactions...it was either awwww Pee Wee Herman....or EWWWW Pee Wee Herman! All of the old people constantly complimented Paul on his suit which made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Layla and I were a good team and partied on as Wayne and Garth...my wig was quite sad, but everyone thought Layla was such a cute little boy!

Z-Bug rocked his ninja costume and made sure he kept us safe with his ninja fighting skills...he was just disappointed his costume didn't come with "nin-chubs" (aka nunchucks)

2011-10-19T13:41:00.004-06:00

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Thumb sucking.
This girl LOVES to suck her thumb.
I guess today her thumb wouldn't cut it....neither did sucking her toe....she finally found satisfaction it sucking BOTH toes.
She's very odd. She must get it from her dad.

2011-09-25T17:18:00.003-06:00

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Bean loves shoes. It was the second word she learned. All day long she pulls out everyone's shoes and wears them around the house. She especially loves her jellies (and so do i).

2011-09-17T23:10:00.005-06:00

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She's pretty low key, and lacks personality. We aren't sure she will ever break out of her shell.

2011-09-15T15:15:00.003-06:00

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Everything in between.

2011-09-15T15:01:00.003-06:00

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Activity 9:

Lucy Love

2011-09-15T15:00:00.002-06:00

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Activity 8:

Hippie lessons from Great Grandpa Heath

2011-09-14T10:42:00.004-06:00

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Activity 7:
Gangsta lessons

2011-09-10T15:52:00.003-06:00

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Activity 6:

Egg collecting

2011-09-10T15:39:00.002-06:00

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Activity 5:

Eating.

2011-09-09T21:41:00.004-06:00

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Activity 4:

Medical supply towers and Dainty cake baking with Grandpa.

2011-09-09T21:37:00.002-06:00

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Activity 3: Karate.

Z-Bug had wicked skills.

2011-09-02T15:17:00.003-06:00

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Activity 2: "crawl-dad" hunting.

2011-08-23T13:21:00.004-06:00

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Every year we go to a teeny weeny town in Colorado where my mom and Steve live. They live on a glorious, heavenly, serene, farm that makes my heart go pitter patter every time I think of it. Every year we are there and I take trillions of pictures and every year I load the pictures on my computer and get overwhelmed at the thought of posting any on my blog. Well this year I have decided to blog by activity...that way its a little more manageable on my end and the few people that actually look at my blog don't get photo overload :)

So here we go...activity #1...Boat races
All of my beautiful Bean because I can actually get her to look at me...I haven't ruined her....yet.

2011-08-18T23:38:00.004-06:00

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Over fourth of july weekend we were able to go to my dad and julie's cabin that they bought recently from my grandma and grandpa. I hadn't been in 17 years so it was really fun to go and watch my kids do the same things I did as a kid. They had the time of their lives! There wasn't a minute of the day that Zander wasn't digging, scooping, picking, exploring, climbing, riding, every square inch of that place. Every second of the day my kids had dirt mustaches...that's how I knew we had fun.

2011-07-29T16:25:00.004-06:00

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Over the past few months Paul has become an exercise maniac and I couldn't be more proud! He recently participated in his first ever triathlon. He did fantastic! He had a smile on his face the entire time...do you think he had fun?? Let's just say waking the kids up at 5 am was totally worth it...and I think we may have many more early mornings because Paul is hooked. Way to go Pauly-Wog!

2011-07-29T15:45:00.004-06:00

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Craft day.

We had craft day. Well....I should say I wanted it to last an entire day, but it ended up being 15 minute craft day (which is ok too). We made super hero masks, arm cuffs, an indian princess headband, and then ended up cutting lots and lots of little pieces of paper (Zander LOVES cutting paper...it's more the process for him than the outcome)

I love these booger nose messy faced kids.

2011-07-06T23:22:00.002-06:00

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What do you do on a hot summer day? Fill the sandbox with water and make your daughter look like Chaka from Land of the Lost!

2011-06-21T14:06:00.003-06:00

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What?? Am I seeing this correctly?? My kids actually snuggling together?? No pulling hair, hitting, or biting?? And to top it off they are holding hands....Miracles really DO happen!

2011-06-02T20:16:00.002-06:00

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If every morning was like this I would DEFINITELY be a morning person.

2011-05-22T23:18:00.005-06:00

Zander participated in his first ever Ironkid race. If your children have not ever participated in a race before then I highly recommend it....it's by far the cutest thing I've seen in a loooooong time! Zander wore his PF fliers so that he could run extra fast. He did an awesome job running and we were so proud of him. Oh and I had to include Bean's cuteness at the race just because....well....she's cute.

2011-04-15T21:02:00.004-06:00

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I was browsing through this magazine the other day and noticed the bow tie this little boy was wearing...a bow tie that looked A LOT like one of my bow ties from my Etsy shop. After doing some research I found out IT IS one of my bow ties!!! I was so excited!

2011-04-10T22:01:00.006-06:00

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Flying kites.

It was a rainy windy weekend but once the rained stopped it was PERFECT kite flying weather. We all had a BLAST!

2011-04-07T22:07:00.004-06:00

We had fun playing with this awesome camera Paul borrowed from his work...I think I need one. We had WAY too much fun playing with it. Paul made a video for my DARLING mother in law Freddie for her birthday. She is on a mission in England and doesn't really know Bean so we made a "Bean" video for her. HAPPY BIRTHDAY FREDDIE!!!
We love you!

2011-03-19T15:01:00.003-06:00

The orchard is blooming and so are my allergies. I had to shove pieces of wadded up toilet paper up my nose to keep my head from exploding. Well worth it to see my girl frolicking in the flowers.

2011-03-05T23:08:00.002-07:00

They melt me.

2011-02-22T22:39:00.003-07:00

What to do with Bean's mullet?? Today I tried pigtails...hilariously horrible pigtails. Poor girl. She's going to look back on these and wish that her mom knew how to do hair. Oh well. She rips them out in 30 seconds anyway and then she's back to being business in front and party in the back. If anyone can rock a mullet it's you Layla!

2011-02-21T21:37:00.001-07:00

White frog legs have never made me so happy.

2011-02-09T00:12:00.004-07:00

I don't take enough pictures of Bean. So I am vowing here and now that things are going to change. Here is some Layla overload sporting her 50 cent hat...(I think this may be the one and only time she wears it. It's a little too"A Knights Tale" for me)

I'm pretending that the dust you see is magic dust instead of actual dust. I have no problem using my imagination.

Anyone that knows Layla knows she is insane over her blanket. She's like a cat with catnip. She rolls around in it drunk with happiness. Say a little prayer for us that we never lose her blanket or the world as we know it will end.

my boy!

2011-02-05T18:58:00.003-07:00

2011-01-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

Bored on a Sunday.

2011-01-21T14:00:00.000-07:00

Nothing says, "I love you" like licking your sister and then putting her in a choke hold.

2011-01-20T21:07:00.003-07:00

You know your child is from St. George when this is the outfit he chooses to wear in the snow.

2011-01-20T10:27:00.003-07:00

Better late then never has begun to be my motto. Yes I am doing my Christmas post a month late.

Christmas morning. THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!!!! Having young kids makes everything so magical around Christmas time.

Zander gets his FAKE Red Rider BB gun and has pretended to shoot everyone's eye out since he opened it.

Like his outfit? He dressed himself that way when he woke up at 6AM.

Daddy love.

Layla got two things for Christmas...the two pictures below are pretty much the only time she has played with them. I should have just got her a roll of wrapping paper. She would have enjoyed it much more :)

Christmas breakfast.

He's off to kill some bad guys...I'm not sure if he's going to kill them with the gun or his outfit.

Christmas aftermath.

As much as I adore my Christmas tree I was so incredibly grateful to take it down. My kids would not leave it alone and it drove me crazy. I can't blame them though the tree really is just full of toys.

Here is Layla ripping an ornament off with pure joy.

One of my favorite traditions that we do each year is let the kids pick out an ornament.

Zander usually picks out hilarious ones, but was quite conservative this year and chose goog ol' Frosty to grace our tree.

The pony that Layla chose is cross eyed which makes me love it even more.

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New year!

2011-01-05T22:50:00.002-07:00

Layla-Bean in the morning....it doesn't get any better then that.

2010-12-24T15:03:00.002-07:00

Merry Christmas!

(This may be my favorite Santa pic to date. I think Santa was questioning his career choice this year) See previous years here and here

2010-12-16T12:10:00.002-07:00

Our little Beanie just turned one....well a month ago. Here she is in all of her splendor showing off her signature facial expression, while putting her baby in a head lock.

We got her this little doll that plays peek-a-boo for her birthday gift. I thought it was so cute in the store, but after taking it home it ended up giving me creep out. Long story short, I'm completely afraid of her doll.

It's ok though because all Layla wanted to do was gouge her eyes out anyway.

My completely talented and awesome friend Leslie made Layla this ROCKIN' cake. Is she talented or what!

I guess Layla didn't want to get her hands dirty...who's kid is this??

Nothing says, "I love you" like shoving your baby girl's face into her birthday cake.

Taking a breather.

More awesomeness by Leslie...and yes they tasted as good as they looked!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Beanie!!! Your a complete joy to us!

2010-11-19T15:15:00.003-07:00

Mastering Angry Birds.

Paul is a regular Mr. Miyagi

"Wax on, right hand. Wax off, left hand. Wax on, wax off. Breathe in through nose, out the mouth. Wax on, wax off. Don't forget to breathe, very important."

2010-11-19T15:13:00.002-07:00

Tuff Tat

2010-11-19T15:09:00.003-07:00

It's never a dull moment eating dinner with Zander.

Rock on my peeps!

2010-11-19T14:55:00.002-07:00

I can always tell how much fun my kids are having by the amount of dirt I find on Layla's face, and how many inches of sand I find in Zander's pockets. I think they had fun today.

Zander noticed how delicious Layla thought the dirt was so he had a little taste. He wasn't as thrilled as she was.

Layla pooped mud for days and I had to vacuum the sand out of my dryer.
With that being said it must have been a good day.

2010-11-09T22:04:00.003-07:00

I know by now everyone is probably Halloween-ed out (Well except our family. Zander is already asking me when Halloween is again, and is talking about what he wants his costume to be). Anyway I couldn't skip over our yearly tradition of going to the pumpkin farm and feel good about myself.

I said, "Yoo-Hoo, look at me and show me your pumpkin!"
This was the look I received.
Obviously he was trying to appease me, but had places to go and people to see.

Little Beanie. All smiles.

Our boy has grown up so much since THIS post (and so has my photography ha ha)
COWS!!!

Our perfectly perched princess.

Zander overcame his fear and rode the train.

Now no more Halloween post until next year. I promise.

2010-11-01T11:14:00.005-06:00

I helped Zander carve his pumpkin, but he was mostly just interested in the pumpkin guts. Meanwhile, Layla played peek-a-boo with herself. Apparently she's easily entertained.

Then off to the trunk or treat! WOW, what a bunch of handsome men!

NACHO loves to point.

And our astronaut loves to snap.

All Layla wanted to do was eat the candy...can you blame her??

so we let her :)

And now it's time for "Where's Pauldo?" Can you find him??

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

2010-10-20T15:10:00.003-06:00

2010-10-15T23:50:00.002-06:00

Southern Wedding Magazine featured one of my bow ties in their fall issue!

2010-10-10T22:41:00.002-06:00

Bootylicious

She may not have much chub on that little body of hers, but she has plenty of junk in the trunk.

2010-10-07T00:10:00.004-06:00

While looking through some pictures of this past summer I stumbled upon this one.
My boy at the peak of summer.
Completely blond and wonderful.
Full of mischief and curiosity.
I beg you not to grow up, or be too cool to hold my hand.

2010-09-21T15:20:00.003-06:00

As I sit down in my chair in the living room, I begin to see two little eyes peek above the end table. Then with one outstretched hand a frozen corn kernel appears next to me followed by a soft voice saying...

"Mom, here is a teeny piece of corn for you because I love you so much."

Did this help me to forget the fact that he had just walked through the neighbors freshly poured driveway?...yes.

2010-09-20T15:08:00.003-06:00

Folks, I am so far behind on blogging it's scary! This is an extremely rare rainstorm we happened to have a couple of months ago and I couldn't bare to have these pictures go onto my hard drive probably never to be seen again...I think that's a hint to myself that I take WAY too many pictures.

This was Layla's first encounter with rain and she wasn't quite sure what to think of it...

But it didn't take her too long before she was carelessly frolicking through it.

Yes I even puddle jumped...in a white shirt no less! What was I thinking??!!

This is Zander's friend Aiden. Not only does he have an extreme love for running everywhere he goes, but he can outrun any of you, be ye a man or a woman.

2010-09-02T11:19:00.002-06:00

Sunday.

Talking, wrestling, snuggling and giggling.

My love for these three is almost painful! Sometimes I feel like my heart is going to explode out of my chest when I look at them. So then I have no choice...I either have to squeeze them, eat them, or take pictures of them. I chose the latter, it's safer that way.

2010-08-27T23:35:00.003-06:00

Zander finally attended his first day of preschool. It's all he has been talking about for a year and a half.
He was disappointed that he couldn't ride the bus like the big kids, but he was still VERY excited. I have to admit that as I was dropping him off I got a little verklempt.

He wanted me to make sure I took a picture of his spider man backpack.

Paul had to go to work before Zander woke up that morning so he left him a really cute note. After I read it aloud to Zander he said, "That is so cool! I love my dad! I want to take this to school read this to my teacher!" And so he did :)

2010-08-27T23:32:00.003-06:00

Rub a dub dub, two kids in the....sink.

These pictures are completely blurry, but I love them none the less

2010-08-27T23:30:00.002-06:00

Gran Love.

(Sexy socks Mom)

2010-08-27T23:06:00.006-06:00

Layla is already sick of me taking her picture, no matter what kind of ridiculous tricks I am willing to perform for her. I could be balancing a kitten on my head and there is no way she would look at me.

...ok I lied...she did look at me once

2010-08-27T22:16:00.004-06:00

This post is dedicated to my niece Audrey.
I'm certain she has the BEST swimsuit bum I've ever seen.
Lu-La will you be mine?

2010-08-27T11:14:00.004-06:00

Captain America was in our midst...

and then his mask wouldn't come off!

It did make for a good laugh though.

2010-08-27T10:56:00.004-06:00

This boy cannot resist a freshly made bed...but then again who can?

2010-08-24T22:45:00.002-06:00

When people ask her if she ate paint chips as a kid she can honestly say YES!

2010-08-10T22:48:00.006-06:00

You will never believe where I bought this little ballerina swimming suit...

ALL A DOLLAR!

Some poor little kid in China put a lot of love into making that swimming suit (and probably made only a couple of pennies for it since it only cost me a dollar.) Thank you little Yun Lee. I appreciate your mad sewing skills and willingness to outsource so that my daughter can look adorable on a budget.

2010-08-10T17:23:00.002-06:00

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful

2010-08-10T17:15:00.002-06:00

The Thinker

2010-08-08T22:35:00.003-06:00

The other day it was finally cool enough to go see the Roadrunners play baseball. Oddly enough the Roadrunners decided to close their doors the following week. They probably thought no other spectator could match our awesomeness, so they threw in the towel and called it quits.

Z-Bug workin' it! Dance baby dance!

We had a great time!

2010-08-05T23:43:00.003-06:00

This was what I discovered the day I realized my biggest fear......Zander has outgrown taking naps. I'm not sure if I should praise him for his creativity while curbing his boredom, or if I should cry because there will never again be peace and quiet around here ever again.

While he was in his room for around 30 minutes he managed to
1. Pack his suitcase completely full of undies and one sock. (Hopefully he was planning on traveling some place warm)
2. Make curtains (hence the pillowcase taped to his window)
3. Built a fort, train track, and boat (this is what he told me)
and finally...
4. strike some killer poses

Nap time, you will be missed. May you rest in peace...but not in our house apparently

2010-08-04T12:14:00.000-06:00

Anyone need a dog walker?

2010-08-02T00:07:00.004-06:00

This little guy may be a challenge, but boy-o-boy when I hear him giggle I melt...

...and his pointy teeth make me smile.

2010-08-02T00:05:00.001-06:00

Sigh...I'm in love.

2010-07-26T19:01:00.006-06:00

I think she was a mermaid in another life
because this girl LOVES the water!

My Little Helper

2010-07-26T18:33:00.004-06:00

Fourth of July

2010-07-26T15:35:00.003-06:00

I need to do better at posting actual events on our blog instead of random pictures. We really Do fun things with our kids on occasion! This was part of our 4th of July extravaganza posted almost a month late...better late then never I suppose. We had a great holiday! My brother and his girlfriend came over for a BBQ and afterward we lit fireworks while it was still light out!

Z-Bug and Layla Bean LOVED every minute of it. Zander is probably the only human in existence that likes watching snakes grow... look at his concentration in the right hand picture. Layla pretty much flapped her arms like a little hummingbird and smiled during the whole event, but what's new. Later that night we watched an AWESOME firework show in St. George. Getting up for church the next morning was rough, but totally worth it.

What'choo talkin' 'bout, Willis?

2010-07-22T22:49:00.000-06:00

ROCKY

2010-07-19T17:12:00.001-06:00

The poor girl got in a fight with Zander's bookcase since she has become mobile.
I'm sorry to say that the bookcase won.

Layla overload

2010-06-30T13:24:00.006-06:00

I have taken WAY too many pictures of Layla and can't keep up with blogging about them. So here are a few random shots of my girl who rarely has a shirt on.

My friend makes these incredibly cute necklaces! And of course Layla is always wearing a DARLING billie

Sporting her newest billie headband

Zander sort of looks like a deranged cartoon but I'll take any pic I can get of my two kids smiling.

She wasn't happy because I forced her to wear this dress I made her

and I can't stop laughing at this one! I torture her way too much!

Melt my heart

2010-06-27T23:32:00.001-06:00

2010-06-22T23:57:00.003-06:00

As mentioned in a previous post, I have hardly any pictures of me and my kids. I would much rather die then be in front of the camera. However, I have made goal to try to get at least one picture of me and my kidlets once a month.
So...we had a five minute photo shoot one afternoon, dressed just as we were in my door entryway (by the way, my favorite pic taking spot at the moment).

I don't look perfect by any means, and my kids look like rag-a-muffins 99.9% of the day, but I know that I will cherish these pictures. And someday when Zander and Layla are grown, they can see their mom semi-young, with only a few gray hairs ha ha, and know that I actually did exist when they were little. And hopefully they will always know that I love them more than anyone could love anything.

A lot of our pictures look something like the one below :) Zander trying to choke me and tackle me to the ground, while Layla's arms flail about while attempting not to be the next victim.

OH HOW I LOVE THEM!!!

Death by cotton candy...

2010-06-20T17:41:00.002-06:00

This was Zander's first time having cotton candy believe it or not...

...he savored every sugary bite...

... and then ten seconds later he was in a sugar coma.

The best thing since sliced bread

2010-06-03T15:43:00.002-06:00

I just can't get enough of this girl! She will already be seven months on June 14th and time is just flying by. Our little Layla is sitting up, is super smiley, and will eat ANYTHING I give her and beg for more. She is at my very favorite age so be prepared for picture overload of this girl. By the way, I have been putting "do not copy" on my pictures, not because I think they are especially good or anything, I just don't want some creep-o printing out pics of my kids.

Hallelujah...

2010-05-29T22:40:00.005-06:00

Hallelujah for this ending.

The last day of the challenge has gone about like this:

1-6am -Wake up
2-7am-10pm -Go through entire day
3- 10 pm- Remember the challenge

and the rest goes a little like this.

4- 10pm -Do the challenge
5- 11pm- Go to bed.

You ask- "How can you do EVERY part of the challenge in one hour?"

This is how.

As you can see I am posting this blog at 11:28 on Saturday the 29th. The final half hour of the challenge is here...

Better run. Literally.

We go together like lamb and tunafish

2010-05-28T22:46:00.004-06:00

I was digging through the archives today and I came across these. This is just one of the reasons I love him...he is the lint to my bellybutton and the connector of my uni-brow. By the way, I have no idea why these pictures are so ginormous but I suppose it just adds to the effect. Your welcome.

Has it really been 7 years?

2010-05-22T20:24:00.003-06:00

Happy Aniversary Pauly-Wog! I love you more now then I did when we were just two young razor-bum dorks.

Ralph. It's not somebody's name.

2010-05-22T17:26:00.006-06:00

For my birthday, Jessica surprised me with an opportunity to go skydiving!! I have been wanting to do this ever since I could drive, and she was probably sick of hearing about it.

As a family we also pitched in for Mothers Day to send Julie up in the sky with me.

If you would like to know details feel free to ask, but I think the pictures will suffice.

It was ~~one of~~ the most exhilarating things I have ever done.

Poor Layla

2010-05-15T22:41:00.003-06:00

As Zander lay there pretending to sleep, Layla is wide eyed agonizing over what type of torcher her brother is going to put her through.

Will it be head squashing?

Cheek squishing?

Suffocation?

I send Zander to time out and I wonder to myself if taking pictures of them is worth it...

And then I look at them and remind myself how completely scrumptious they are bare bellied.

Sorry Layla, it's totally worth it!

Thats a BIG bowl of corn

2010-05-15T22:36:00.000-06:00

I got sick today and had a hard time fitting in all my fruits and veggies. I decided to pull out a bag of corn from the freezer and eat it all.

NOT my favorite way to gt fruits and veggies, but it worked.

This still seems to be my biggest challenge of them all. Exercise I seem to pull off and enjoy. H20 is fairly tough, but manageable. Scriptures, Prayer...yada yada yada. But getting my fruits and veggies... "That's a different story all toghetha. I ad to beat them to death with their own shoes."

I am getting better at it all though and feel better than I have in years.

Next week I will make sure to cross the t's and dot the....lowercase j's??

My little old lady

2010-05-08T23:17:00.002-06:00

Is it just me or does Layla look like a miniature version of a chubby 80 year old lady...

...except that her fat rolls are cute, not horrifying :)

Ahem...I'm going to ignore the fact that Zander is trying to choke Layla and pretend that this is a sweet brotherly hug.

A day with my boy!

2010-05-08T21:53:00.004-06:00

Zander and I went to the Father/Sons campout this weekend.

For those that know me well...this would be a shock.

I hate camping. I like to sleep in a comfortable, warm bed.

It was about 30 degrees in the middle of the night...far from warm,

and Zander is a wiggly 3 year old...far from comfortable.

I enjoyed every minute of that horrendous sleeping situation :)

4 hours of sleep later we woke up and ate a delicious breakfast.

We then drove home and Zander enjoyed sleeping the entire way.

I however, went to work.

Can't wait to do it again!

Zions Family Fun

2010-05-01T22:49:00.002-06:00

I am missing a lttr on my computr. guss wich on?
njoy!

This wk w wnt to Zions Park as a family! It was a blast. W nvr gt a chanc to do fun things lik that.
Layla thought it was th coolst thing in th world and Zandr Bug playd Macho Man th ntir tim.
Layla rod in a pack on mommy and Zman insistd on doing th ntir hik by himslf...and succddd.

As many of you know...Zandr is obsssd with th school bus, and always wants to rid on on. H finally got that opportunity and as you can tll h had th tim of his lif... Actually you can't tll. H hardly vn crackd a smil th ntir rid.

Layla on th othr hand flappd hr arms and giggld h ntir tim.

You wouldn't bliv what happnd nxt...w actually wor th crazy kid out. W hav always bn undr th assumption that this was impossibl. Now w know that to war him out w simply hav to tak him on a 5 mil hik vryday.

th nd.

Can you guss which lttr is brokn?
If you ndurd through th whol thing you might hav an ida.

What parent doesn't love to roll their children into a ball?

2010-05-01T09:54:00.002-06:00

Paul's Post

2010-04-24T23:02:00.001-06:00

Sorry to do this and I am sure it is of no interest to anyone...but I have to get my journal/blog entry in for the week and I am in the final hours. I have to wake up at 6am and it is now 11 pm. So in the spirit of winning points in the Jewkes Family Challenge 2010, this counts. I think the letter of the l.aw is really beating out the spirit of the law here. thanks for beiing a captive audience. I will expand on our trip to Zions today in detail at another time. For now I just want my points. The End.

Five months!

2010-04-23T21:53:00.004-06:00

How can our little Layla be five months already! She is such a little mushy ball of chubby goodness. She just started giggling but only for Zander. All he has to do is look in her direction and she laughs. Its adorable and infuriating. I have to admit that I'm a tad jealous that I can't make her laugh. I did however hug her too hard and made her cry. Bad mommy!

By the way, my lovely and talented sis-in-law made Layla's scrumptious headband. Find them here.

And just for fun I wanted to compare our baby pictures. I'm still pretty certain that she's my child.

Another year older and wiser too...

2010-04-17T22:40:00.002-06:00

I thought it would be fun to recreate one of my favorite pictures of my boy just to see how much he's changed. He's definitely a baby in the first and a big boy in the second. It's amazing what a year will do to a kid.

2010-04-11T14:06:00.001-06:00

Nothing kills Sunday boredom like jumping around in your underwear...

...Paul was next...

2010-04-03T23:47:00.003-06:00

It's late and I can't seem to get the internet to work on my computer. So here I am on Paul's laptop at midnight trying to fit in my blog post for the week. All of my pictures are on my computer except for a few on my photobucket account. As I was searching I came across a pic of my little Layla. She was about a week old in this picture. Before I took this I had tried and tried to get some cute newborn pictures of her. Envisioning her tiny and naked while posed perfectly as she slept. Yea right! Frustrated I went the the opposite extreme and bundled her up like an Eskimo. This picture ended up being one of my favorite photos of her. Oh how I love her! Every time I look at her I want to bite, chew, and eat her. That feeling is normal right!

2010-03-23T22:28:00.001-06:00

Zander: "Mom, I drank some of your drink."
Me: "You did?"
Zander: "Yup, but you can't drink anymore of it because my breath is still in it.