Kid Comedy

Grace- My school shoes are too small for me
Me- Really? (we just got new shoes a few months ago)
Grace- Yes, I am too big for my tennis shoes
Me- So, you need new shoes?
Grace- Yes...shoes that light up.

Have a happy week!
Love,
Aubrey

Portraits 2011

We weren't going to do portraits this year, but I got an amazing deal, so we decided to get some of just the girls. I'm not posting the main one we're using for our Christmas card, but here are the others. I wasn't thrilled with the photographer (she zoomed in too close a lot of the time), but it was super cheap, so I guess I can't complain. Here are my favorite shots. I love my beautiful girls! Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!
Love,
Aubrey

P.S. We have the CD and copyright of the pictures, so any of you can print any you want. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cute dogs and cute kids

Mark's parents got our doggies some costumes for Halloween and so we dressed them up for a few minutes.

 

Lily seems to be saying "help me, please". She's a patient dog though.

 

I didn't get a good picture of Daisy, but here you can see that she was dressed up too.

 

I like this picture of Joy, she is so often just really happy.

 

Daisy and Lily were groomed today and they are so white and fluffy and beautiful when they're groomed. They smell great too for a few days, so that's good (they don't smell too bad the rest of the time either).

 

Today when we asked Joy to smile for the camera she would scrunch up her face so cute and smile. Such a cutie!

 

And here's our pretty Grace posing for the camera.

That's it for now. Things here are going pretty well. I've been sick with some back-to-back colds and a pretty bad sinus and double ear infection, but I think I'm on the mend (with two antibiotics on board). Joy's appointment with the infectious disease guy was pretty fruitless. He thinks she just gets sick regularly with high fevers, with no other symptoms. Can't say that I agree with him, but at least it's probably not serious, just disruptive. We're going to wait and see how she does.
Grace and BethAnne have most of November off (because their school is year round), so I'm looking forward to having my girls home this month. Hopefully we can practice cleaning and playing nice together. Have a great week!
Love,
Aubrey

Joy the Pioneer

Joy was in a much better mood today, so she let me dress her up in her Pioneer costume. She didn't smile very much in the pictures, but she's a cutie anyway. We had fun trick-or-treating at Mark's work and Grandma's work and now we're almost all tuckered out. Mark will take the kids to a few houses in the neighborhood this evening and then we'll be done! Happy Halloween!

 

 

 

 

 

Halloween Preview!

We had our Ward Halloween Party last night, so we took some pictures. (They may be all the Halloween pictures I take, but we'll see).

 

There was a pumpkin carving contest at the party (you decorated them at home and brought them). BethAnne and Grace drew the design they wanted on paper, then Mark taped the paper on the pumpkin and carved away. I love both of their designs, but BethAnne's doggy pumpkin is especially awesome! They are so creative and Mark is so talented, the designs look exactly like the pictures.

 

Grace was a princess this year and BethAnne was a cute witch. The fake hair looks better in person, but you get the general idea.

 

Joy dressed up this year as the 2-year-old who absolutely refused to wear a costume. We tried the non-itchy pioneer costume and she wouldn't have it. But she was adorable for a few minutes even though she was screaming and pulling at her bonnet the whole time. I didn't dare try the fancy/itchy Cinderella costume. Maybe it's because she's been sick. She had another high fever this week for a few days. Then she was grumpy for a couple days and then she came down with a cold yesterday. Maybe she'll let me dress her up for Halloween tomorrow, but I'm not going to push it.

Joy has an appointment with the infectious disease specialist on Tuesday because she has had several episodes since July where she has a medium to high fever (lasting 3 or 4 days) with no apparent cause. She may have a recurring fever disorder. Hopefully whatever it is, isn't serious. The pediatrician feels like he's already ruled out most things, we'll see if the specialist has some ideas. It's getting to be pretty disruptive because she doesn't sleep well when she has a fever (so Mark and I don't sleep well) and then this last time she just seemed really uncomfortable for a couple days. Hopefully we can figure it out and hopefully there's a cure.

 

This year, Mark got into the Halloween spirit and he dressed up as a pirate. Very fun, aaaargh!

 

And one last picture taken this evening. Apparently, Lily the puppy is a budding pianist! I hope you all have a great week and a fun Halloween. Make sure you post pictures of your cute kiddies in their costumes!

Love,
Aubrey

Joy's 2nd Birthday Party

Joy's 2nd birthday is on Wednesday, but we had her party tonight.

 

Here's Joy next to Grandma. They're both ready for a party.

 

Here's her special birthday cake made by Daddy (decorated by Mommy). Its a chocolate layer cake with a chocolate mousse filling and a chocolate ganache on top with heath bits. It was so good!

 

Joy wouldn't eat her ice cream in her high chair, she just had to sit by her Aunt Chrissy. Joy said Chrissy's name for the first time tonight, she calls her Sissy, very cute.

 

Joy got some dress up clothes from Grandma. Here she is with some fairy wings and a wand.

 

And here's Grace in Joy's new hat and apron.

Thank you for everyone who came to help celebrate Joy's birthday. She has been such a wonderful blessing in our lives. She keeps me smiling all day long. We love our Joy!

Lady Bug dress

 

 

 

Joy grew out of all her Spring dresses so I got this lady bug dress on clearance to get us through the fall. Have a great week!

Love,
Aubrey

P.S. The first picture is cuter if you click on it.