layering

Hazel has been into "layering" lately, especially her underwear. This time I think she put on every pair of bloomers we have. At bath time, it took me several minutes to get them all off.
I counted over twenty pairs!

the third

The three kid leap: the point in life where your kids officially out number you.
Odds are, someone will always be grumpy or hungry or in need of something.
Chances of surviving a trip to the post office and/or grocery store have shifted from slim to zero.

Coordinating nap times is no longer an option.

After my first, I couldn't jump on a trampoline without peeing my pants.
Now after having a second child, I can't sneeze without fearing the worst.
And what shall I expect after a third? Will speaking set me off?

Chances are...
Hazel will want to dress up the baby and give him/her milk from "her belly"
(she currently has a lamb growing in her belly, drinking milk).
Charlotte will want to give the baby hugs and loves all day long--
when she's not jealous that mom isn't hugging and loving her.
David will pray that it's a boy, but settle for an all girls' golf team.

I will pray hard to stay sane and kind and alive and somehow still find time to brush my teeth and shave my legs and not pee my pants whenever my allergies kick in.
If I can manage all that, then I can do anything.

We will make the three kid leap sometime around December 4th.
What an adventure awaits us!


p.s. check out this column about having three kids. Loved it.

the book box

Charlotte decides to read her book inside the book box. Hazel thinks it would be a good idea to join her, which makes Charlotte angry. Charlotte decides to forgive her sister and give her a hug, welcoming her into the book box. Charlotte tells Hazel to get settled and read her a book already.

Nickelcade

We went to the Nickelcade with Trey and Paige and their kiddos on a crowded Friday night and had a great time. The guys kept running off together to play shooting games and basketball games while Paige and I chased after the kids!

Paige and I wanted to do DDR together and she accidentally chose a higher level than she could handle. We called David over and he ROCKED it. A new hidden talent has been discovered.


Do you see all of her jewelry? She made it herself.


Charlotte wasn't too sure about all of these rides.
Her face was so funny though, I was cracking up.

Kevin's Birthday

For Kevin's birthday this year, we all saw the new Robin Hood in theatres (which was awesome) and went out for a nice steak dinner on Saturday night. On Sunday, we had a nice dinner at their house and I baked a key lime pie, his favorite. This pie is not my #1 choice, but there's something about those meringue peaks that is so satisfying. They're beautiful! (Can't you tell I'm a bit proud?)

We thought it might just be Hazel, but both of our girls LOVE their Papa Kevin.
Maybe its because he always sings "You are so beautiful" every time he sees them.

Hazel used her charm to get Grandpa Phipps to read to her for 30 minutes or so.

Family Pics

It had been a long three hours at church, but our girls were still pretty darn cute and the day was lovely... so why not take some family pictures?

















Family Updates:
David will graduate this fall. He loves his job and works hard at home to keep us girls happy.
Janelle is 14 weeks pregnant and in between everything else, stays busy with her toddler blog.
Hazel loves to make jewelry out of anything she can find, layer her clothing, and pick flowers.
Charlotte LOVES to watch "Signing Time," eat sand and dirt, and follow her mama everywhere.

That's it for the Phipps!

Sunday baking

There's this banana nut roll recipe in my Better Homes and Gardens recipe book that I've always wanted to try. Our church doesn't start until 12:30pm on Sunday, so I baked all morning and ended up with this beauty...








(Sad thing is, I'm pregnant and picky and it was too sweet. Bummer.)

Mother Daddy Daughter Date

I've been wanting to take Hazel on a special date for a while.
When "How to Train your Dragon" came out, in 3D, I couldn't pass it up.
( I know its a bit cheesy, but I made us all pose together before the date.
I actually made us late to the movie)

Don't worry, Charlotte is on the phone confirming our reservations.

Hazel is so fun to take places because she always dresses and packs for the occasion.
This time she actually wanted to wear her favorite apron...and nothing else, so I had to convince her that a cute skirt would be better. Sometimes she'll pack a little purse with a comb, lip gloss, and a favorite stuffed animal. This time she settled for her favorite pony, necklace, and headband.

We loved this movie! I was afraid there would be some scary parts, but besides the fire-breathing parts, it was fine. She only jumped at one part where the dragon popped out of nowhere and then she thought it was funny.
We ate our black licorice and strawberries and jelly beans and LOVED this show.

My favorite is that the next morning she said she had a dream about flying on a dragon.
Thanks Hazel for a fun date.

Happy Mother's Day

David gave a talk in sacrament and spoke nicely of the women in his life.
Lottie only had to be taken to the foyer twice during his talk.
Kevin grilled up bacon-wrapped steaks served with
David's famous garlicky (sp?) mashed potatoes.
The men did the cooking AND the cleaning.
I got a topsy turvy tomato planter (poor David, I couldn't stop laughing when he gave it to me)
Lucky, lucky me.

Rock Climbing

Since our trip to Zion, we've talked about taking the girls rock climbing
so David could revisit his past love.
It's so nice to live at the foot of the mountains!
Paige's dad was in town from Canada and joined us for the day.
Poor Trey had been poisoned by bad fish and was at home, miserable. (sorry Trey)


I don't remember why Hazel was upset while we putting her harness on...but I thought it was a cute picture anyway.

She was nervous, but since she trusts her Dad with her little life, she did everything he said.
(I love how she's holding onto his neck in this picture)







After playing in the dirt and digesting a LOT of it...
Charlotte was ready for a little snooze with mom.

So this picture will forever remind me of this CRAZY story:
Greg, Paige's Dad, was the first to climb. We used webbing to make him a harness since he didn't fit into the one we had. Once he was about 25 ft. up the wall, one of the straps came out of the carabiner, meaning that he was only supported by one leg.
We all stared in total shock as he held onto the rock and looked down at us like, "So, what do I do now??" MEANWHILE, both Hazel and Brooklyn were standing on the big rock David was standing next to. As David was carefully lowering Greg down and giving directions,
Brooklyn did a front flip off of the rock, onto her face.
Poor Paige was still freaking out about her dad's plight while Brooklyn was bleeding and screaming. Oh, it gets better. As I was trying to calm Brooklyn down and keep an eye on what was going on with Greg, Hazel did a front flip off of the same rock, onto her face.

So here they are, after a long day, bruised and bloodied and pooped.
(But still smiling)

Thanks to Dave for planning our trip and saving Greg's life.
Thanks to Greg, for not falling 25 feet.
Thanks to Paige for still liking us after we almost killed her dad .
Thanks to the girls for being little champs.

cinco de mayo

This year we had a rockin' cinco de mayo party with Trey and Paige and some lucky members of Paige's family. Because we don't get out as much as we'd like, we decided to go all out and get dressed up for the occasion. We were as Mexican as we could manage.



Paige made a pinata for the little ones (and the adults too).

Each girl took a swing and then it was the adults' turn.
Paige, the racquetball champion, unfortunately only left a few dents.
I managed to knock it off the string, still in one piece.
Of course it took one of the boys to finally knock it to pieces.

Thanks to everyone for a great party!

A trip to Zion

April 23-25, 2010

So David and I have been dating around with other couples in the Ogden area for a while now...it takes a lot to find THAT couple that you can hang out with several times a week and never get sick of them. Alas we have found true love in Ogden with new move-ins, Trey and Paige Clark. (Funny thing: I knew Trey years ago at BYU through a mutual friend. How lucky that we all ended up in the same ward!)

Paige heard about free admission to Zion National Park and off we went.
Lucky for us, my mom and Bradley decided to join us.
IT WAS A BLAST.

Paige has introduced me to the Mobi wrap (sp?) I used a sling with Charlotte, but I'm loving this one even more because both my arms are free and she stays upright more easily. It was great to have on this trip.

Our first trek was to the Emerald pools which were perfect for the kiddos because they were able to get wet and dirty while we relaxed! (well, "relaxed" is a loose term. David relaxed while I chased the girls around.)

It's amazing how quickly the temperature drops once you hike into the shade.
We went into the upper pools and it was COLD.

The men decided to hike up behind the falls (you can see them behind my mom in the pic below). The mist from the falls is enough to soak you. Crazy boys.



Once they came back, a little soggy, David decided to push Trey into the ICY cold pool of water. I wish we had it on video, but Trey chased David (while nearly losing his wet shorts)
through the rocks while the whole crowd watched. David finally dove in on his own so that he could remain undefeated. We were FREEZING just watching them.



Lunch at the main resort area
(Hazel already ate half of her mom's ice cream and then moved in on Brooklyn's)

Hazel LOVED being in this pack. She swung her legs the entire time and commanded her father to stop here and there to look at wild flowers.

The next trek was to weeping rock. Hazel walked the entire (nice & short) hike on her own and stood still while her dad placed her under the falling water.
*I had to make my brother Bradley a triple S'mores that night because I begged him to run back and get my camera from my mom who was helping Brooklyn in the bathroom at the bottom of the trail. Once he made it all the way back, he told me in between breaths that the camera had been in HIS backpack the entire time. So sad!

I didn't realize how excited the girls would be about getting in and out of the tent all night "pretending" to be asleep. After I swept out the dirt a couple times, I became a psycho mom threatening them if they got in our tent one more time.
Note to self: bring an old small tent just for the kids to play in next time!

We had a great time around the campfire that night and like usual I didn't get a wink of sleep in the tent, but we enjoyed delicious food and of course, great company.
We did one more hike the next morning before heading home.
Thanks for a great weekend!