Monday, December 21, 2009

2009 Year in Review

2009 by Numbers!

5 - Alexis turned 5 in January celebrating with a Princess dress-up party, with one strawberry pinata and 24 pink cupcakes with purple frosting! She planned the whole thing herself!

18 - The day in March that changed our life forever. Paxton Richard Dart joined our family and he is a healthy and very happy boy. I love this picture of Denali holding him when we got home from the hospital. He looks like a little doll.
25+ - The number of times I mowed the lawn this summer as I took care of ours and the neighbors lawn. It looked so much better this year. Slowly I am learning how to care for a yard.

100+ - The number of hours the girls spent enjoying the nice green lawn.

6 - The number of additional children I had attend a summer kids camp. It was one week of fun and we did all sorts of fun activities and my girls just loved it. We will most likely do it again next summer!

2 - The number of camping trips we enjoyed this summer. Was it really only 2? We will have to double that number this next year. Paxton did great sleeping in a tent!

K- So I wasn't sure what number to use, but a huge milestone in our family was Alexis' first day of Kindergarten. She loves school and her teacher. She is learning to read and loves The Boxcar Children. We read it together every night. She is a social butterfly and has made lots of friends.

3 - The number of Christmas concerts Alexis has this month. Her Kindergarten class had a really cute program. She had the only singing solo and did wonderful. She is in a music class, Jubilee and they also had a really great program. Denali has been singing "Rock Rock Rock, do the Reindeer Rock," every day since we attended it. The entire elementary school has a program tomorrow night too.


7 - The number of children in Denali's co-op preschool. We do it once a week and it is at our house every 7 weeks. It is perfect for her right now and she looks forward to it every day (even though it is only every week.)

2 - The number of long distance work trips Greg took this fall. He traveled to Iowa and then Boston. Paxton and I traveled to Boston with him and really enjoyed our time there. I would love to go again, although it isn't a stroller friendly city, so I would like to take the kids when they all are a little older.

3 - The number of children that had the stomach flu over the weekend at our house. =(

3 - The number of teeth Paxton got last week. He also learned how to crawl and how to clap. Followed up by the flu, it was a really big week for him!!

8 - The average number of nights Greg is out of town for work. Some months less, some months more. I continue to try to get used to this.

Greg works hard with his many job titles for Snow College and is busy with Dart Photography as well. He graduated with his Masters in Instructional Technology in May and is considering starting a Doctorate degree. He loves his job and his family. It is so fun to watch him play with the kids. They are so happy when Daddy comes home!

I am adjusting to having 3 children. It is harder than 2, but so much fun. It is great to watch the girls entertain and care for their little brother. I enjoy being at home, most days anyway. Stay at home moms really do have the hardest job in the world. I can say that too, because I was a full time working out of the home mom before. I have started couponing and love finding ways to save money. I started another blog: savingsaints.blogspot.com and it is a good hobby for me. I hope it will become a profitable hobby, we will see.

We are grateful for all the blessings that have come our way this year. We hope you all have a merry Christmas and lots of bessings come your way in the New Year!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Birthday, Boston and Black Friday!

I really should write more often so it wouldn't take me so long to catch up! Denali had a birthday and is now 3 years old! I was pregnant with her when we moved to Ephraim and I still feel like I just moved here. We had a great birthday party with the Willis family at Chuck E Cheese. I made a Strawberry Shortcake cake and my camera battery died as soon as I took it out. And I haven't gotten the pictures from my Father-in-law yet. But we had a great day. I actually got teary eyed seeing her so full of joy on her special day!

A few days after her birthday, Greg had an Integrated Marketing conference in Boston. Paxton and I tagged along and the girls stayed with Grandma and Grandpa. We had a really nice trip. We did a lot of site-seeing, went to a Jazz/Celtics game, went to a movie, tried lots of yummy food, got to see Greg's cousin Nick, etc. I also got to sleep in every morning. I learned that as long as Paxton is allowed to lay next to me in bed, he could sleep until 11:00! Too bad we can't do that everyday. Boston isn't a very stroller friendly town, but other than that, it was wonderful.

One day while Greg was working, I went to the Museum of Science. It was huge, you could spend hours and hours exploring all the exhibits. They had the Harry Potter Exhibition there also. It was a special exhibit that had artifacts and clothing from Harry Potter movies. They had quaffles you could throw into the hoops. They had Hagrid's hut with a manequin with Hagrid's clothing and I couldn't believe just how big he is! It was fun, I just wish I could have brought my nephew Malachi there with me. He is a big fan and it would have been more fun to share it with him.

I learned a lot about the history of our country. More than 60% of Boston is filled in land. The road from the airport is a huge tunnel that goes UNDER the ocean. I found the grave of an ancestor. We went inside Cheers bar from the old TV show. We walked around Harvard campus and went to Fenway Park. We went to a 3D movie in a HUGE move theatre. I slept in the most comfortable bed I've ever slept in. Jealous yet?Cheers Bar
FenwayBostonians Pizza Delivery Car

We celebrated a very nice Thanksgiving with Grandma Dart and family. We stayed two nights with Greg's mom and hit some Black Friday sales. Greg and I enjoy going out with all the other crazies and getting some good deals. Although, we always end up buying more than we plan, so not sure if we are really saving much. But we got some fun gifts and enjoyed doing it together. I can't believe it is already the Christmas season. I am looking forward to just enjoying time as a family and focusing on the blessing of life and the Birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.


I have started a blog about my frugal adventures: www.savingsaints.blogspot.com Please take a minute to check it out!

Monday, November 2, 2009

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween. We started the day off at the school carnival, eating lunch, playing fun games, eating cotton candy and winning prizes. We made Jack O Lantern pizzas for dinner and then headed to trunk or treat at the church. The girls enjoyed handing out candy just as much as getting it and we also enjoyed sorting it too!





Honestly, have you ever seen a cuter spider?
They all enjoyed carving pumpkins, even Paxton!