Snow!

We went to the snow to play . . . Sledding the Taylor way!

The fun for dad is getting the speed and angle just right to dump them off.

They are back for more!

Going, going,



dump

and up for more!

We Survived!

Well we survived all the pre-Christmas hoopla! Santa took time out from his busy schedule to make sure the Taylor kids were being good.

Christmas Eve we went to Grandma & Grandpa Taylors for dinner and a rendition of the Nativity. We had several girls who wanted to be angels, so why not? Grandpa Taylor dressed up as Santa and handed out gifts to the kids.

Phoebe loved having her hair curled for church, I just wish it didn't take so long. The boys were so handsome in their Sunday clothes.

Day 1

It is day 1 of Christmas Break and I am not going to survive to day 14! The kids did sleep in until 7 am, but the fights and when they are not fighting, the noise level is insane! It started raining this afternoon, so we have a major case of cabin fever. What to do, what to do???

What a week!

Wow, is it Friday already?

I started the weekend finishing up Christmas presents, my kids now know I am one of Santa's elves. Do you see your present in there?

Then I got a fun box from my Secret Santa in a swap that I did. What fun, even candy for the kids!

Phoebe was the Grandma in the Gingerbread Boy Story. She had her part down! "Don't open the oven!"

Now it is Friday and the kids are out of school for 2 weeks, what's a mom to do?

Christmas Card

Okay by now some of you have received this year's Christmas Card. Here is the letter that goes along with it:

Dear Family and Friends,

We hope you are enjoying health and happiness at this time of year. We hope you enjoy our family photo. Since we had some complaints last year that we sent pictures of the kids 2 years in a row, we decided to include the whole family this year.

We are trying to keep the blog up to date for those who live far away, so you can see what the kids are doing. We hope to keep it up in 2009.

We are so grateful this time of year especially for all of you and a loving Savior who showed the way for us.

Love,

The Taylors

She's got the music in her

Phoebe had her dance recital today and she did great! Her teacher said she always does such a good job in class. She loves to dance around everywhere.

Scary Story

It was a cold and dreary day (that is how scary stories start right?) oh I know it is colder where some of you are, but it is dreary here! We all have snot, I am trying not to get a sinus infection and thought I would take a nap. After tossing and turning and several interuptions from my lovely children I came back down and it looks like a tornado came through the house. You would think that the hard work they put in yesterday (yes, they actually helped for a change) they would not want to make a mess, but... On another note, I am sad and happy, I think. I was released from Young Women's and called as Enrichment Leader.

Thankful

I am thankful for a wonderful husband, three healthy and active children, a dog that listens, family that loves us and good friends.

I am thankful for wonderful inlaws that are celebrating 60 years of marriage tomorrow.

I am thankful that all my holiday shopping is done, just need to get to the making!

I am thankful for a dirty house, we have had fun today!

I am thankful that the tree is up and decorated.

Happy Birthday

It is hard to believe that it has been 7 years since we brought this tiny little baby into our home. He has grown into such a handsome boy! Daniel is very loving and caring to others. His teachers only have good things to say about him. We love you so much!

Goodbye Maggie

We have 3 very sad children tonight, along with mom and dad.

Maggie was our first child, the one we practiced all our parenting techniques on (they didn't work on her either). She was very patient with her humans and very good to the kids once they came. Maggie didn't like getting relagated to the backyard, but was happy to play with the kids there. She has trained 2 puppies for us, hopefully her parenting techniques work!

Goodbye Maggie, we will miss you.

WHY???

Why is it every morning for school I have to drag my lovely angels out of bed? Why is it they complain that they want to sleep in? Why is it when they have a chance to sleep in, they are up before the sun?

Oops

I guess you can't press too many buttons at the same time!

Anyway -- thank you to all who have served and are currently serving to protect our freedoms.

Veteran

Fright Night

Here are some Halloween pictures. Daniel was a toothless Captain America, Will a very frightening Wolverine, and Phoebe a pink hair (thanks to Dad) Princess. Katy (have we mentioned how much we love Katy?) took the kids trick-or-treating and we partied in the cul-de-sac with the neighbors. We thought with it being Friday night we would have a ton of kids come through, but we have half our candy left!

When the kids got back, they had fun running around and playing. They actually slept in on Saturday morning (7:30, these kids need to learn what sleeping in is!)

Beach Photos

As promised here are a few more pictures from the beach. Daniel and Will loved borrowing the wet suits, as you can see. Phoebe loved the way Scott rigged up a tree swing. Thanks again for letting us come along with you!

Beach at night

What do you do with a bunch of kids at the beach at night? Give them glowsticks of course! We spent our October Break at Carpenteria Beach last week. It was a lot of fun - thanks for inviting us Billie! I will post more pictures later.

MPM

I really try to be organized, but fail miserably at menu planning. Org Junkie is having a great giveaway for MPM, so here goes:
Monday - Leftovers
Tuesday - Crockpot chicken
Wednesday - Mexican
Thursday - School night at Vito's
Friday - Sandwiches

2 Days Late

Where does the time go? (School started - I should have more time right?) Anyway ...

Happy Birthday Phoebe!

Giveaways

Vanilla Joy.com is having a great giveaway this week.

I just realized that I am averaging 1 post per month. I will try to be better! Have a great Labor Day Weekend.

Oh what do you do in the summertime?

We are back from our visit to Grammy and Papa's farm. The kids had a blast. They got to see and experience life on the farm. One of the chickens hatched 3 chicks - it was had to keep the kids away from the babies! Phoebe got to ride horses and the boys got a lot of practice on their quads! They got to know their cousins better and everyone had a good time.

We were lonely without Tom and he said he was lonely without us, but he got in some movies and dining experiences. Believe it or not there were days that it was hotter in CA than here in Mesa.

Thank you Billie and family for putting up with us on the way there and back!

Week of lasts

This is a week of lasts for us - last dance class, last week of reading class, last week of preschool, and last akido class. What will we do next week?

Blog Correction

Yeah - I meant Memorial Day. This is why I shouldn't stay up late typing.

Middle of June

Here it is the middle of June and I am just getting end of May stuff done! The boys are loving their reading class (except when I am late to pick them up! Sorry) and Akido. Phoebe is making new friends at preschool and loves ballet. Sawyer came over to play on Monday and was sad when he left - he wanted to go dance with Phoebe! Here are some pictures from the respective graduations.

What did you do Labor Day Weekend? Tom and I flew to LA and saw Wicked - loved it! It was also nice to get away, just the 2 of us (even though there were 3 other couples) no kids!!!

With all the classes we are doing, I am pretty much living out of the car, not liking that with gas prices but what can you do?

Changes

Okay I followed the instructions and I think I got the changes all made on the blog, but ...

Did I mention that I love this purse pattern? I made some for Mother's Day and a friend. Dede the pattern is pretty easy.

Only one more week of school left. The boys are doing a reading class and Akido for the month of June and Phoebe is going to preschool and PreBallet for the month. Hopefully I will survive the summer! It is really warming up here - 100 by next week.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day a few days late! I hope everyone had a great day and was pampered by your family. Phoebe's preschool class had a Mother's Day concert for us on Friday.

Cowgirl Phoebe

We met Grammy and Papa for the horse show in Pomona this weekend. Phoebe was so excited to see Regalo. Jaun made her so happy when he put her up on him. It was a very hot weekend in So. Cal. Tom and the boys didn't have quite as much fun as the girls, but you can't please everyone all the time right?

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to everyone! Why is it when you want to take a picture of the kids looking nice, they do things like this? They had fun and enjoyed the visit from the Easter Bunny. I have a sinus infection and the flu so Tom had fun at church with them. It's a good thing we have the Olsen's to sit with - Tom had to sing in the choir.

We are all looking forward to school starting again tomorrow.

I love this purse!

Okay - how many months did it take for me to finally put a picture of the purse up? Carin took me to this wonderful quilt shop by her house and introduced me to Amy Butler Designs. I found this great material and got the purse made. It was always being used, so I couldn't get a picture of it. However, my marker leaked on it and made a stain! I am so sad. I guess I will have to find different material and make a new one, maybe something more springy!

and the winner is ... the skateboard

So Daniel and I spent most of our night at the ER. Fingers just can't stand up to a skateboard wheel. Daniel is already asking when he can go skateboarding again. The good news is that there were no fractures. (The pictures were taken with the cellphone - sorry). He will lose his fingernail, but a new one will grow in.

Blankets again

Back to making baby blankets. Why is Tina the only one with friends having babies? Soph thanks for having a birthday right after we were there so your mom was making a blanket that I could copy! I couldn't find the great fabrics she could though. Why is it there are so many ugly fabrics out there right now? The quality has gone down too. I guess if I went to quilt shops the quality would be better, but they don't have coupons!

Sunday Barbeque

Nothing like a nice relaxing barbeque after church on Sunday - until you have to call the fire department. The fish was all done and the grill ready to turn off when it decided to go up in flames. Luckily Tom got the grill off the porch before it got too hot. The fire dept just let the propane burn out, so we have a nice scorch mark in the grass and it isn't even 120 out yet! I don't know - do you think it's too melted to use again?

Aprons

Valentine's Day is coming and we (I mean I) have been making aprons for teachers. Since the boys each have 2 and Phoebe has 4 that's a lot of aprons! I think I am now sick of pink, red and hearts!

Makeup

The kids decided to play beauty shop.

Mr. Will created this lovely hair do using only 20 barrettes. I am glad that Phoebe's eyebrows don't really look like this - could you imagine waxing at age 3? :] I tried really hard to be mad, but ended up laughing. Bad choice - she has already gotten into my makeup again.

Silence is not golden here!

Another Black Eye

Last week at school Phoebe was sitting with the boys on the couch when they got a little rough. One of the boys got her in the eye with his foot. She told me "Carter Quackenbush did it, but it is okay because he is my boyfriend."

Hello again

It's a new year and we have been busy with getting back into the routine.

We were sad to hear that Pres. Hinckley passed away yesterday evening. He was a wonderful leader and example.

Tom has been called as Scout Committee Chair and I am still in YW. The kids are all loving new teachers in Primary. Phoebe especially loves being a Sunbeam.