A Look Back at 2013

January
 Teddy boy is a baby.

February
Penny's big blue eyes still shining bright.

March
Packing herself for our move to Elk Ridge.

April
Learning they have a built-in best friend.

May
A fingernail painting party with aunties.

June
Turning three and a selfie.

July
Princess dress-up.

August
Best birthday present ever.

September
Growing more and more handsome (and helpful).

October
And even more handsome.

November
Mama's main girl.

December
Snow day.

We've had a blessed and happy year.  And we've learned that Seth hates to be in pictures.  Here's to a blessed and happy 2014.

Family Pics '13

All photos taken by Alisia Packard Sansom (duh).

So as not to be redundant, no family-family photos were posted.  You'll just have to wait 'til Christmas. 

New Camera....

...which means I can't find any of the Halloween pictures we took, but about some high quality photos of Ted?  Okay, here ya go.

A Handful of Pictures

Here's what happening lately.....

Defying time-out.

Painting a bench. THAT I MADE!!!! (More to come on that!)

Dancer of the Day!

DIY plastic bag kite.  And no, it's not cold enough for (Teddy's) snow clothes yet.  She just really loves dressing up.

Afternoon snack.

Tea party with friends.  I love this neighborhood.

Being left out from the tea party with friends.

His new love--a $2.00 vacuum toy I found at D.I.

See.  She really loves dressing up.  And dressing other people up, too.

Awesome horse ride after a dentist appointment.  Let me know if you need a good pediatric dentist in Spanish Fork.  I got one for you.

Not being left out from awesome horse ride.

We (kind of) Planted Flowers

New home developments suck in the nature department.  We hunted for Easter eggs in a dead field, all the trees are shorter than Seth, and the only flowers we've enjoyed are the volunteer sunflowers (aka-weeds) that have filled up our yet-to-be-landscaped flower beds.  I actually love the sunflowers, but for the sake of this post, let's pretend I don't.

We needed some BLOOMS in our house.  So we made some.

All good flower beds need worms.

Sampling the "dirt."

No sampling necessary.

Forget the flower, we just want the mud.

Next year, a real garden.  The end.

My Pretty Penny

Tedward

Teddy has been largely overlooked on this little blog of ours, so why don't I catch you up and tell you a bit about my little man.

1. His nickname is Tedward. My dad called him that once when he was about 2 weeks old and it STUCK. I love people's reactions when they ask his name and I respond with Tedward.

2. He's big and sweet and naughty. He wears the same size clothes as his 3 year-old sister. He blows everyone kisses, and makes the hardened construction workers around our house break into huge grins when he waves emphatically at them. He runs away from me when I tell him to come to me.  Every.  Single.  Time.

3. He's enthralled with shoes. Everyone's shoes--Mama's, Dada's, Penny's, stranger's at the pool. Not a day goes by when he isn't trying on a several pairs.

4. He loves his "loveys" as much as Penny loves hers. He knows which ones belong to him, and which ones are Penny's. He won't nap without them, and he almost always has one shoved in his mouth. So, neither of my kids had pacifiers, but both will end up with braces.

5. Penny is his favorite friend, and she's starting to warm up to him, too. Just yesterday she insisted that she and Teddy would be married one day.

We love our Teddy-boy. He is the perfect ending to this little family of ours.

Annual Survey

When Penny turned two, I decided to conduct an annual survey (found here) about her.  Since two is long past, here's what she had to say at age three.

What is your name?  Penny

How old are you?  Free

What does mom do?  I don't know.

What does dad do?  I don't know.

What do you want to be when you grow up?  Help me....Rapunzel.  And I will have boobs.

What is your favorite food?  Grapes

What food do you not like?  I don't know.

What is your favorite animal?  Kitty

Where do you want to live when you grow up?  I don't know.

Who do you want to marry?  Teddy

What does dad say?  I don't know.

What does mom say?  I don't know.

What do mom and dad do after you go to bed?  Help me.

What is your favorite song?  I don't know.

What is your favorite movie?  I don't know.

Where is your favorite place to eat?  Picnic

What is your favorite book?  This book (looking at a book of photos of herself).

What would you buy with a million dollars?  I don't know.

What do you dream about?  To go to the store.

What are you scared of?  Lions.

Why is the sky blue?  I don't know.

How would the world be different if animals could talk?  I don't know.

If you could be invisible for a day, what would you do?  Peek out!  Then hide.

What are 5 words that describe you?  Hi.  Hi a lot.

What was a time that you felt lucky?  Help me.

If you could make one rule that everyone had to follow, what would it be?  Help me.

If you could give a gift to every child in the world, what would it be?  I don't know.

What is your favorite place in the world?  The beach. 

When she's not being so humble (so many "IDK's"), she's quite a charming little thing.  Love you little Penny-girl.

this blog almost died

I was ready to give it up completely, but then I scrolled through some old posts and missed it. So if you're still out there following along, I'll try to keep this good ol' blog updated. However, we don't do much so I can't promise anything exciting.

We moved into our new house in Elk Ridge three months ago.  We love it and we love the neighborhood that's crawling with kids.  If I ever finish decorating, I'll post interior pictures.

This little beauty turned three and thoroughly enjoyed her pinata winnings.

We drove to Salt Lake (gasp!) to visit the zoo.  The drive totally wasn't worth it, but Teddy as a mommy orangutan was.