Stolen

I was told that a boy will steal a mothers heart. I had no idea what that meant, until I met this little guy. He came in to this world, and snatched mine right up, and I don't think I'll ever be quite the same.

Here is a picture of the culprit, but be careful, he may steal yours too.

Here he is meeting his two big sisters for the first time.

From the looks of it, he's stolen their hearts as well.

So, my sparse blogging usually consists of me going through my phone and seeing what may be somewhat entertaining. This is the randomness that I was able to come up with.

My girls and I at our recent and extremely fashionable photo shoot.

Actually, this is us just being our silly selves.

This is Max. He's not our puppy, but is a frequent visitor to our house, and he's a good little guy. This may come as a shock to some, but we had to find our last puppy (Papito) a new home. Thankfully we were able to find someone that loves and adores him, and doesn't mind his lack of potty training. I couldn't handle it any longer. Luckily, Max doesn't feel the need to mark every corner and rug in my house. Good boy.

Grandpa Mark at Christmas time!

What a handsome elf he is!

I think the facial hair makes him look quite manly, don't you?

I went on a vacation! I haven't gone anywhere in so long, and desperately needed it.

I had the best time, and can't wait for the next adventure.
If you don't know where this is, then you can sing the old rice-a-roni song, I was probably singing this in my head the whole time.

School, a visitor, and a birthday.

I know I'm extremely late on this, but here are the girls on their first days of school.

Clara on her way to preschool. She's loving every second of it. She may, or may not be a trouble maker in class. She's lucky she's so cute.

Since we live so close to the school, little Miss Abbey has been riding her scooter. It's probably one of the cutest things I've ever seen, but I'm the mom, so I don't count.
She loves the independence.

We had a wonderful visitor about a month ago. My dear sister Leslie came to Arizona.
She did lots of spoiling with the girls, and they loved her for it.
This is probably one of my favorite pictures EVER!!
Two of the naughtiest little sweethearts you'll ever have a chance of meeting.
These two are a couple of pea's in a pod.



My little Abbey turned SEVEN!!! I can't believe I have a 7 year old! I am just in love with this girl. She's grown into such a sweetheart. She always wants to make me happy, and do nice things for me. She even writes me love notes. She is a great big sister to Clara, they are the best of friends, and they watch out for eachother. She's doing wonderfully in her 2nd grade class, and reads like a pro.

Here she is in her birthday outfit. Good thing her birthday was on a Saturday!
Happy Birthday Abbey, I sure do love you.

We're still kickin over here.

Yes, it's been awhile.

Yes, I'm probably the worst blogger in the world.

No, I don't care, I'm doing my best here with the little sliver of creativity I have.

Like I say to my kids (A quote I learned from a very wise mom).

"You get what you get, and you don't throw a fit."

Here are my girls on one of our weekly adventures to Walmart. One thing I love about my girls is they hate shopping about as much as I do. One afternoon I told them the sad news that we had to go to Walmart. Abbey began crying and begging that we don't go. It didn't take her much convincing for me to cancel the walmart trip, and I told her we'd save the trip until the next day. I asked her why she didn't want to go so badly, to which she responded.

"Mom, just like you say, there doesn't always have to be a reason."

This is the "next day" when we finally made it there. I treated them to McDonalds, and we took a few fun pictures. I love that these two are such good buddies.

We've had our chihuahua "Papito" for almost a year now.
The girls love him....he's a pain in my butt.
sigh....
But he is really good with the kids. Clara carries him around absolutely EVERYWHERE.
I can tell he hates it, but he just sits there and lets her treat
him like he's her very own living doll.
Can't you tell he's just wishing he could jump out of
her arms and run to the nearest hiding spot?

Here's what I've been working on at the house.
It might be kind of hard to see in the picture, but.....
I've been painting!!
It took me over a year to pick out the colors I wanted, but it's been so much fun.
I've never done anything like this in my life. I was scared at first, but I'm loving it.
Abbey tells me I should get a job as a painter.
The dark color is called, Wild Manzanita. It's a deep deep red, almost brown. The light color is called, Quiet Veranda (Doesn't that name make you want to go to Italy or something? I love it). It's a yellowish beige.

Bee and Flower

The girls were in the most recent play, the Jungle Book, at EAC.

They got to sing the song, The Bear Necessities, but coming from Clara, it sounded more like, the bear nethethitieths. Abbey had a small line also. It was adorable. I was a proud mama. The girls loved every second of rehearsal and performance.....I'm just glad it's over now. But, it was so much fun to watch.

Happy Birthday Clara Floreine!

Today is my baby Clara's 4th birthday!!

I can't believe this little piece of spunk is growing so fast.

Clara is full of life and personality.

There's never a dull moment when she's around.

She is sweet, and cares for others.

Every morning getting Clara dressed is a hassle. She loves clothes, and is very picky with what she wears. She seriously tries on 3 to 4 outfits before she sticks with just one.

This morning I told her she could wear whatever she wanted....and I wasn't suprised when she walked out the door with 3 outfits on at the same time.

She wore a new yellow shirt that her daddy bought her.

A new yellow dress that her mommy bought her.

And a tutu that I made a few days ago.

I took this picture thinking she was finally dressed, but before she left, she saw a new pair of jeans she'd gotten from dad.....had to wear those.

And the shoes you see in this picture....she changed them.

But, you get the idea.

I am smitten with this little girl, and don't know what I'd do without her.

I love you Clara, Happy Birthday!

Embarrased!!

Have you ever tried to make an embarrased face, without actually being embarrased?

It's harder than you think.

The other day I captured my daughters showing me some embarrased talent.

Clara's version of what it looks like to be embarrased.

Such Talent.

And now Abbey

She's like a pro!

Oh how I love these two....and their willingness to play silly games with me after school.

Adventures....or something like it!

Everyday for me is pretty much the same ol thing. Wake up, get myself, and kids ready. Take kids to various locations. Go to work. Get off of work, pick up kids. Take care of kids, put them to bed, go to bed.

Start over.

Sometimes, I find adventure along the way.

This post is just a little insight into the occasionaly boring life that I attempt to make interesting.

This is me at one of my favorite places called, "Jason's Deli." I was visiting my dear friend Mariela one weekend, and we stopped into this cozy little sandwich shop. After ordering my sandwich, I noticed a fabulous little tray of muffins and other niceties that are COMPLIMENTARY!!

That means free, and my happy motto is:

"If it's free, it's for me!"

In my excitment for the free muffins and such, I had my dear friend take a picture of my happy little muffin.....right before I ate it.

Don't you think I could get a job as the excited face for Jason's Deli?

Could someone let Jason's Deli know that I deserve some of the royalties for the MASS amount of customers they are going to have after reading this post?

Sometimes my work becomes, more or less, boring. And I have to find ways to entertain myself.

I was wearing this very fashionable scarf....and in my boredom....I turned myself into a terrorist!! I especially love that there's a map behind me!

I'M GOING TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD!!

Is it inappropriate to pretend to be a terrorist, and think it's funny?

I'm sick....I'm sure of it.

I really love the world, I promise, I don't really want to kill it.

One wonderful afternoon, my roommate and dear friend, Jamie and I, took a trip up to Mt Graham with some friends.

As I was talking to Jamie, I noticed the fire that was reflecting in her sunglasses.....

and THAT is when I turned into a photographer.

I took about 55 pictures of Jamie with the fire in her eyes, until it was perfect. And, I'm pretty impressed with myself.

I doubt the photographer in Sarah will come out again for a long time. That was stressful.

So...that's just a bit of my life.

Have a fabulous day.

I can't help it.

So, I have this little sister....we grew up together.

We shared a room.

We fought constantly, and were very different.

But we always loved eachother.

If all of our differences were put into one person, we could probably fly....

or have laser vision....

or be invisible.

Then she went on a mission.

I almost died because I missed her so much.

When she came home....she met a boy.

And then she got married!

I don't know why, I guess she thought it was a good idea.

AND IT WAS!!

I love the guy.....well I mostly love him.

The only reason I don't love him is because he moved my sister again.

TO NEW YORK!!

So mean.

My sister knows that I need constant re-assurance that she still loves me.

So she sends me fun pictures of life in the big apple.

Tons better than the mission, because I get a happy text from Leslie at least once a day.

I think Leslie is one of the BEST people in the world.

I think she's pretty.

Stylish.

And, I am pretty sure she has her own super powers.

For some reason, when she puts her mascara on, she thinks of me.

And so this is my FAVORITE picture ever.

I love you Leslie, more than you know.

Me

Happy Birthday CONNIE!!

This is my little sister Connie Rebecca Young.

She is named after her Grandma, Connie Mae Pace Young.

And her Great Grandma Nancy Rebecca Cluff Pace.

She was born this week on November 14th, 1999.....21 years after I was born.

I remember when my mom was going to have her, we were all so surprised, but so excited.

When she came into this world, she was spoiled beyond any child I have ever seen, and she has handled such attention with grace and appreciation. . . . sometimes.

Connie is the Aunt to 2 Neices, and 2 Nephews. One of which is only 2 weeks younger than her.

She is an excellent babysitter, and playmate. I'd have to say she's one of the best Aunt's out there.

If you are ever around when Connie laughs, you can't help but laugh along.

She is artistic, and creative.

She just wants to be loved and accepted for the truly individual and special person that she is.

Happy Birthday Connie.

We love you.

Just fishin

When things get rough, and life gets tough.

The best thing to do is....

just a little fishin.


There's nothin better.


Have a great day.

Best buds.

We got ourselves a couple new roommates a few months ago. It's the girls wonderful Aunt Jamie and Cousin Bradley. Things have been great so far, and a lot of fun. It's nice for the girls to have a little buddy to play with, and it's great for me to have a friend around the house. Jamie and I have been able to help eachother out with the kids, which has been awesome!

The girls just love cousin Bradley (Yes, they call him Cousin Bradley, so that we can always remember our dear Uncle Brad). They have accepted him into their home as a fun playmate......and......pretty much like a brother. They have their share of occasional battles.

This morning as I was getting myself and everyone ready for the day, I heard Clara bossing that poor boy around (don't worry, she bosses us all around, you'd think with her small size, she would know not to do that). I yelled at her to stop talking like that to Bradley....and she said,

"But MOM!!! He's my best friend!!"

I don't really know why she thinks that gives her the right to boss him around.....but apparently, to her, it does. Anyway, these two are the cutest little friends, and we love having them with us.

School Days

Abbey's first day of school.

She said she was scared at first, but it was GREAT!

She's a walker now. No more bus.

She loves her teacher and has already been

making friends......even though she doesn't

remember any of their names.
.

.

.

.

.

Little Miss Clara was a slightly different Story.

All morning, she was a wreck for her first day of

Preschool.

I had to put those shoes on her three times.

She kept taking them off, saying she wasn't going to go to school.

I've never heard that girl give so many

excuses as to why she couldn't do something.

But, she got brave and went.

It took some coaxing before I could leave her.

At the end of the day, she told her Granny that she was a

lucky girl, and a good schooler.

She loved preschool, and even got to

paint a picture with GLITTER!!

Buzz buzz buzz!!

I sincerely apologize for the blurriness of this picture....

BUT LOOK!!!

Miss Abbey was a bee at her kindergarten recital!

And can I tell you a little secret?

I made this costume ALL BY MYSELF!!! Well, Uncle Dan helped a little.

But look!!

I sewed those stripes on a yellow shirt!!

SEWED!!
ME!!

AND!!

I made the cute little wings in the back that you can barely see.

AND,

I know you wouldn't think it, but those antenae, they gave me the hardest time!!

Did you know that if you spray paint styrofoam it dissolves?

Well, now you know.

I had to get creative with those things, and I loved how all of it turned out.

Abbey did such a good job in her recital. She got to go up to the front and sing a song about bees, and she got to turn around and shake her little stinger.

It was so cute, I almost fainted.

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Both of my kids were in the Cinco De Mayo parade this weekend.

Let me tell you, they were

SO EXCITED!!!

Here is Abbey after riding on her float.

Side note....she lost yet another (bottom) tooth the night before.
That tooth Fairy is gonna go broke, that's her third to be lost!!

The Safford Dance Academy Float.

Clara got to ride in the truck of the very exciting Bashas float.
Her daddy was the driver, and Skylar and Ava (cousins) got to ride as well.

Here is the Bashas float (which, I have to include, won for most original float).

That poor bear must have been so hot in the sun, but he was a good sport.

They even passed out free water bottles.

Can you believe it?

Free!!!

Gotta love Bashas.

A scratch and a Pedi.....

Abbey and Clara love to pretend...

but it got a little dangerous when the kitty (Abbey) scratched the owner (Clara).

What did Abbey have to say about that??

"I have sharp kitty nails."

Poor Clara.....but I loved her baby blues in this picture.

A friend of mine (Deanna) and I decided we needed a pedicure,

so we brought our girls along. Here is Bree, Jeanna, and Clara.

They loved it.

And here are Abbey's toes.

So cute, and fun.

What's Abbey been up to?

Abbey was invited to a princess party at Emma's house.

She got to

dress up like a princess.

(Which is one of her most favorite things to do).

I did her hair....don't she look pertty??

Abbey goes to dance class every Monday.

She has a blast everytime. Her recital is coming up very soon and she can't wait.

Here she is on parent day showing off her skillzzzzz.

Waiting for Abbey

We were waiting for

Abbey

to get out of school,

and decided to have fun with the

new

camera

phone.

Smiles

Scary Faces

Then we got bored and

waited some more.

The pink kitty that you see in two of the pictures is actually Abbey's kitty.

Clara

played

with

it

all day,

and we took it all over town while we were running errands.

When we were waiting to pick up Abbey, I told Clara that her sister was going to want her kitty when she got back.
She didn't say anything until right before school was out. Then she told me,

"Mom mom,

put this

kitty

in the

trunk."

.

.

.

.

Mama didn't raise no dummy.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the little princesses.

We LOVE you!

Two little angels.

Our ward had a little christmas pageant and the girls were angels.

I put them in some of my white shirts and made little halo's for their heads.

They looked so cute, and we had a great fun time.

My little Clara was darling, but I have to say,

she was more of a little devil.

She was distracting through the whole program, and kept running off of the risers to come and talk to me.

She had fun though, and that's all that really matters........right?

Abbey got to sit on Santa's lap (Clara would have nothing to do with that nonsense). She asked him for something different then what she asked Santa at the school. I am sure Santa is pretty confused about what to get her for christmas, since she can't stick to one thing.

This is about how the night went.

Abbey, was sweet. Smiling and singing.

Clara, was clowning around as usual.