Sweet little Dopher

Little Dopher started going to Miss Catherine's Shining Star Preschool and she is having a great time. She loves wearing her back pack and feels so grown up.

This is her first day of school. Posing for the camera. What a ham.


She is a funny, sassy girl that loves to drink "chocolate and chocolate milk" ALL day long. The other day she and Regan were fighting and I hear Sophie say, "I'm getting madder! See my eyebrows!" >:(

In other news, I have been canning my guts out. My mom was here a while ago and we found a tree with some cherry-sized plums. The tree was loaded and spilling plums all over the side walk so we relieved the tree of some of it's burden:) I've made 37 pints of plum jam, and 2 pints of plum syrup (super yummy). We have a garden with tomatoes, so I've canned 21 pints of salsa, and 2 quarts of spaghetti sauce. Then I brought back peaches from SG and bottled 17 quarts of those. It is very satisfying to see the food I've been able to can and store, but I'm a little pooped to say the least. I may do a few more cans of diced tomatoes with the rest of the tomatoes from my garden, but not for a couple weeks. We need to be outside as much as possible before it starts getting colder and the snow traps me inside. Ciao for now......

Second Annual AZ, NV, SG Tour

So during Jason's last two weeks of school I took the girls down to Heber, then on to Las Vegas, and finishing up in St. George.
We had a great time in Heber. It was beautifully green and the temperatures were amazing from the monsoons. Loved it!! I was able to help my parents around the yard with the weed eater and trimming trees. It was nice to be able to help them in some way. It rained every afternoon I was there and after one particular pour down the whole street in front of my parents house was flooded. It was a gully washer!! The girls and I went out there after it had started receding and played. They had a great time. Brought so many memories back to me of when I was younger. We'd go out with the Cheney's after a gully washer and stomp around. Good times. We also got to see Wendy and her kids. The girls love playing with the boys. They roughed Hunter up pretty good.




We went to Las Vegas to see Kandra and her family. Kandra talked me into cutting Sophie's hair. Her first hair cut (sniff sniff).....I love the first two pics. She said, "take this happy face. Now my mad face." What a goof ball. She is a little pink cheeked from swimming all day. She is a fish out of water.

Before

After...ahhhh...much better

Regan let me take a rare picture of her.

Kandra is a crafty girl, well at least she has some crafty ambitions whether or not she follows through. She wanted me to "help" her fix up her 2 bedside tables. Her definition of help was to provide the financial backing for the materials while I did the grunt work. It was a fun project though. I love doing this kind of stuff....seeing a transformation.
The color of them really wasn't anything to look at, but it had some great contours and details that I didn't want them to get lost in the sea of black. So I distressed it to highlight those details. I think they turned out pretty awesome.



Then on to St. George. We hung out for a few days before Jason joined us after he got out of school. The girls had a good time playing in the water, getting messy with moon sand, jumpin' at jumpin' jacks, playing with cousins, and trying to get daddy wet as you can see below.




So after being gone 3 weeks it was good to get back home. Can't wait to do it again next year!!!

Random pictures....I love all of their expressions.





There was a spot in the grass outside that was just dirt and would fill up with mud every morning after it was watered. The kids would get into it a little, but this day I turned my back for a minute and it got a little crazy. We have this cute black boy in our court that is Regan's age. Regan calls over to me and said, "Look mama, we look like Isaiah"! So funny.
They had so much fun until it was time to clean up. I got the hose out of the laundry room and sprayed them down. They ran away and started stripping down. We were the only ones outside at the time until they got naked. Then all the mom's came back from lunch at the park with their kids and saw me trying to chase two naked girls around the court. HarDy hAr HaR....go ahead and laugh. I haven't been that humiliated in a long time. It gets better. One of the moms called the grounds people to come and put grass in 'cause we are all sick of our kids getting dirty in the mud pit. A week later the girls and I are coming back from a walk and they are just finishing up putting in the grass. I tell them thank you 'cause the kids keep getting into it. He said, "No problem. We heard about a couple of kids getting covered head to toe in it and running around naked." Yup, those would be mine.....they're famous.
Just a few of the many projects I've been working on lately. I got this little cabinet for $5 and painted it a pretty turquoise color. Alot of the things I've been refinishing have really nice detailing and curve so I want to try my hand at glazing but haven't gotten the stuff yet.

My kitchen chairs used to be old office chairs that were really bulky.....comfy, but bulky and they had to go. They were driving me nuts. So one of the chairs showed up by the dumpster and I snagged it. The other two I got at D.I. for $5 each. A little sanding and painting and tadi-freakin'-da. I have a cute set of chairs. I'm on the hunt for one more that I'm going to paint a green color that Jason is going to hate. Pretty sure of it, but that's ok. I needed to jazz up my kitchen a little bit. I'm pulling the colors from an Americana picture I have in the kitchen.
The girls fight over who gets to sit in which chair. Usually the blue one. Jason likes the yellow one for the butt contours on it. (Very ergonomic :) I like the red one.....just because.

Now for the moment you've all been waiting for...

Before.........

.........and after!!

I made the cushions using yummy Amy Butler fabric. The ottoman is done except the cushion. Didn't feel like making it.....still don't.

Unfortunately I don't have room for this in my abode, so I am going to be selling her. If interested let me know:)

Catchin' Up

I didn't think that I had much to blog about, then I uploaded all the photos that have been on my camera.....since March. Luckily (or un-luckily) I haven't been taking many pictures lately. I'm such a slacker. Oh well. I don't know why, but I like posting the funny pictures of the girls. Maybe it takes a little edge off of the stresses of motherhood. Gotta remember the good times right? We went to Heber for spring break and Sophie had a good time with the yogurt. She really likes to smear things on her face. Kinda cute and yucky at the same time.

Jennifer, Travis and William came for Regan's birthday and we had a really nice visit with them.
Hahahaha....for some reason this picture cracks me up. One of Regan's classic expressions.

I love these two pictures too. Sophie is just sweet, and I love Regan's silly face with Jennifer smiling in the background. Pretty cute.

Easter Time and the many faces of Sophie. No pics of Regan on this occasion as she was screaming the entire day (no joking around).
In May we went to Tuscon for a Greer family reunion and I caught this pic of Regan. I love it. She looks so thoughtful and calm.

More pictures for your viewing pleasure coming soon.....

Caught in the Act

3 months ago

2 weeks ago

My family had a family reunion over memorial weekend in Tucson and I woke up early one morning and found Regan sucking on the hotel blanket. Yuck!!! Since then I have caught her sucking on the bottom of her pajama shirt during the night and sucking on another fleece blanket. Seriously, I thought we were over the blanket-sucking thing. Hopefully it doesn't get out of control.


Cute things I want to remember:

Regan was talking to my dad the other day and when it was time to hang up my dad said, "Well, I'll talk to you later honey. Bye." Then he hung up. She looked a little dumb struck for a moment. "I'm not his honey. Grandma's his honey."

Hahaha.....man she kills me sometimes.

She is so stinkin' sweet sometimes. Every prayer we include my dad in it and she has asked some questions about him and worries about him. My parents were up here for a few days and when they were going back to their hotel for the night, we were saying our goodbyes and she said to him, "Goodnight grandpa. I'll believe in your heart." So tender. She frequently tells me that she is going to marry him when she gets bigger.

She is pretty preoccupied with death. The ultimate sentiment she can tell someone is, "I love you so much that I do not want you to die." That's true love isn't it?

Sophie loves Regan so much. If I am disciplining Regan, Sophie will put her hands on her hips and say,"Hey! That's my sister!" I know that's your sister, but she can't do blah blah blah so she needs a time out. "But I love Regan sooo much!" Bleeding hearts of the world unite!!
I was going on an errand and Regan had already been out with Jason earlier so I said that Sophie could come with me. She was all excited until she found out Regan wasn't coming. Then she was BAWLING that we couldn't leave Regan! She stayed home to be with Regan instead of coming on an outing with mom. Best friends/worst enemies all wrapped in one package.

Jason: Who's the bubble king?
Sophie: I'm the bubble king!
Jason: Who's the dancin' queen?
Sophie: I'm the dancin' queen!
Jason: Who's the stinker pants?
Sophie: Regan's' the stinker pants!
Regan: Oooooo that makes me so mad when you say that!!

Sophie insists on praying every time we pray. She does a pretty good job, but the ending keeps me smiling. "In the name of Jesus Christ, A.M." (not p.m :)

Tonight Jason was making shapes and animals out of balloons and the girls were lovin' it. Regan said to Jason, "you're good to have around daddy!"

Jason

In May Jason graduated with his bachelors in architecture. He has put in a lot of work the past two years and I'm so proud of him. He got accepted into the new accelerated masters program at the UofU. Acceleration (aka death) means going summer, fall, spring, summer straight through. He will be finished in August of 2011 instead of May 2012. We are pretty excited to be done a year earlier, but the first week into the summer semester made us wonder if we'd made the right choice. Definitely the hardest week so far in this rat race and this semester may take the top of the hardest list. He has been working so hard and I hope he knows how much I love him and appreciate all he does for me and the kids.

My family came up as well as Jason's parents and 2 nieces. I'm kind of an idiot and forgot my camera so I took these pictures from Kandra's blog. I'm still waiting for pictures from my in-laws of the occasion. It was really special for us to have our family here for the graduation. They have been the greatest support to us and we seriously could not have done this without them. Thank you!
Just some fun pics when everyone was up here. Gavin is stinkin' cute and funny. Love him. Sophie is a fish out of water. Regan is kind of scared of the water unless she has a death grip around your neck.


Jason and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary on June 9th. I am still in shock. It really couldn't have been that long ago that we were married in the big sealing room of the St. George temple. I thought I was in love then, but those feelings pale in comparison to the love I feel for him 9 years later. It almost seems silly. I don't think I really knew what love was. He has taught me about service, unselfishness, honesty, saying sorry, and not taking myself too seriously. He balances me out. Heavenly Father really knew that I needed him, that he is perfect for me. Thank you Jason for being my knight in shining armor, and probably the only one who could put up with me (don't answer that), and thank you Heavenly Father for sending him to me.

Dear Gray Hairs

Dear gray hairs that have chosen to invade my head,

Why?
I've done nothing to deserve this premature sign of aging. I'm a good girl I am. Ever since Jason started this program, you have thought it okay to drop by at inconvenient times. During dinner, when I'm taking a shower, playing with my girls, without so much as a phone call to warn me. Maybe you thought I wouldn't notice if one or two of you crept in. Well I have!!! Just today I pulled 7 of you nasty critters out. If that wasn't enough you have begun hitting below the belt. I have found you in my eyebrows, my goatee, and even my eyelashes!!!!! What the heck is that all about?!?!? Are my nose hairs next?!? So I am officially writing to tell you I have had enough. If you do not quit this sordid attack, I will have to start coloring over you and I really don't want to do that. So play nice.....on someone elses head!!!

Not yours trully,

Kristal D. Joy, esq.

These are a few of my favorite things

The primary wanted me to fill out a form on Regan's favorite things so I did one for her and one for Sophie.

Regan's Faves

Animal: elephant

Food: pepperoni pizza

Dessert/Candy: vitamins (what the?), and rice krispy treats

Movie: Blue's Clues

TV show: Go, Diego, Go

Color: blue

Book: Glooglie Eyed Pet Pals

Toy: bunny and "cheeto" (leopard beenie baby)

Primary song: I am like a star shining brightly

Thing to do: pick things (flowers, leaves)

Thing to do with mom: eat dinner

Thing to do with dad: hug him

What does mom say?: You gotta clean up

Is there something special that you do or like that you want us to know about you?

I want to look like a bunny rabbit. :)

(This pic shows their personalities to a T)

Sophie's Faves

Animal: tiger

Food: fish (um...we never eat fish)

Dessert/Candy: ice cream

Movie: Mary Poppins

Color: Pink

Song: Twinkle little star

Toy: clake (?!?!?) and bubbles

TV show: D-D-D-Dora

Thing to do: play outside

The answers after that, (like her favorite thing to do with me (see horses???)) got pretty vague and mumbled. Too much too soon ;)

(One of my favorite things...those puckery lips!!!)