{ Famous }

Paityn and her grandpa made the cover of our local newspaper The Springville Herald.

When Paityn showed her friend Lily she said "You're famous!" haha!

Here's the picture that's on the paper:

In the newspaper they were talking about the upcoming annual canned food drive the Kiwanis Club does every year. Last year, Devin took Paityn with him to box up the canned food so it was ready to deliver for Christmas. They sort each box, add a voucher for a free ham, and put a Wal-Mart giftcard in each box. A few weeks before Christmas they deliver the boxes to local families in need that year.

I'm so glad that my kids get to watch their dad serve in the community and be apart of such wonderful service opportunities like this one. I was totally choked up last year when I stopped by and saw Paityn busy at work filling up boxes. She is such a big helper!

When we showed Paityn the cover her eyes lit up. She was so proud! I then heard her explaining to Presley what she'd do this year to help and then a discussion continued about what canned vegetable they'd be in charge of putting in the boxes this year!

Those are moments that totally melt my heart.

{ play.group }

Presley and a few neighborhood kids her age do a Playgroup Preschool together twice a week. There are 6 kids, so you take a turn every 6 weeks.

Each week the kids talk about one letter. We do an activity or coloring page, have a snack that starts with the letter, and other activities that may coordinate with that letter.

The last week I had the letter 'I'

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

So we talked about Indians

Here are the little Indians:

My sweet little Presley

Kate

Chloe

Charlotte

Chase

Zack

It's fun to see them all interact. They're all such sweet kids! The boys are over ruled by the girls so they usually get talked into playing house and playing the role as 'husband'. NOT TO MENTION THE LACK OF BOY TOYS AT OUR HOUSE.

Presley officially now has a social life!

{Halloween 2010}

Will somebody please pinch me and tell me it's November?

Halloween seems like a blur. I can't believe it's over. It came and went so fast. It may be my favorite holiday. I love this time of year. (other than when it decides to hail right during trick-or-treating)

I am totally kicking myself for not taking enough pictures of the girls!!

Paityn took off with 2 of her cousins to get a head start before I realized I hadn't snapped a picture of her! I seriously think my camera is playing tricks on me too. I totally remember taking more pictures, but can't find them anywhere! They looked SO cute! Especially with the 3 girls together! It was so fun! So here's my sad attempt of documenting Halloween night.

Pres as a little Chinese Girl

{she made me laugh. everyone would ask her what she was going to be for Halloween and she really didn't know what to say....we might have to go for something a little easier to remember like Cinderella or Tinkerbell next year!}

Here's 2 of the 3 Chinese Girls

Now onto the Annual Friend Halloween Party

I need to give a HUGE shout out to Abbie & Seth!! They put on the best party with the most delicious food and a hot chocolate bar that I have craved every day since then! Thanks you guys for always putting on such a fun night!

**this is the part where I should have a voice over of Oprah saying: 'this may not be appropriate for all ages. viewer discretion is adviced.'**

Introducing:

Buddy the Elf & his wife

Dooneese & Lunch Lady

from SNL

Abbie & Seth

Brett Michaels and Madonna

Brady & Jen

Katy Perry & Snoop Dog

'California Girls'

Christie & Matt

The most adorable ballerina

my niece Ele

Ele belongs to these two:

Glee Stars Will & Sue

Danny & Nancy

Jane Fonda & Richard Simmons

Andrea & Mike

Sporting the peace sign (I think):)

Hailey & Myles

The happily married polygamists

Tyson & Summer

Officer Johnson

Kenny

A scary guy from a movie :) & his bumblebee

Ryan & Ashley

Fred & Wilma Flinstone

Garrett & Shannon

...And I didn't get a picture of of Edward & Bella (Sean & Lynzi) who showed up later...

The guys and their CRAZY selves

I know I've said this before, but these guys have all been friends since they were in elementary school! And they still get together at least a few times a year! They're the greatest group of guys!

And the best group of girl friends who put up with that crazy group of guys!

Happy November Everyone!

will someone come and get me organized for Christmas?

{Piece of Heaven}

For conference weekend, we headed north for a little R&R.

We always hope to see a few of these:

{you get a dollar for every one you see..grandpa's game}

And take a few trips in this bad boy:

If we're really good, we might even get to help grandma make dinner.

{which is a treat because it doesn't happen too much...guess I should give in and let them help with dinner more often.}

And of course the lounging. No cell phone service. No internet.

Well, there is TV, but you need a little connection to the outside world, right.

It's such a beautiful place that brings us all closer together.

My Favorite Book

When I saw this book, I had a flashback of being at girl's camp and a junior leader reading this story. Although, it wasn't in book form, it was just a story printed out on the computer. I don't have the best memory, but I have honestly thought about this story many times throughout my life.

Well, when we lived in St. George, we were browsing Deseret Book and I happened to pick up this book. (Judging the cover of this book, they had me at 'chocolate'.) Lo and Behold, it was that story in picture book form.

Here's the book's description:

In this fictitious but true-to-life story, a young princess discovers that the little choices we make every day are often more important than we think. Any decision can make us stronger in our commitment to righteousness — or it can weaken our resolve to follow the strait and narrow path.

If you find yourself at the book store, check it out! It's basically a parable about chocolate cake, my kind of parable! I'm planning on using it in my next Relief Society lesson! Just thought I'd share!!

Big Girl Underwear

This little lady

is officially potty trained!!

For the longest time she was obsessed with wearing underwear over her diaper! She would tell everyone she was potty trained! Then one day we just gave it a whirl. I wanted to give up the first time she had an accident, but figured we'd push through.

Then you get to the point where you think, 'I'm too far in, I can't turn back.'

But needless to say, she was a pro! She hasn't had an accident through the night and it's been a month now and she's so great to just run in and use the bathroom, I hardly ever have to ask if she has to go. So we got lucky!! And now she can officially sport her big girl underwear!!

Let's be honest, is there anything cuter than a little kid booty??

Black Bean and Couscous Salad

Need a change from all that heavy food? This is so light and fresh, but will still satisfy your hunger!

Check it out at Eat At Moms if I just made your mouth water!