Playing Catch up!

So I am playing catch up. Alexis turned 6 in January and I still cannot believe I have a 6 year old! She wanted her birthday to be at McDonalds and it actually worked out great. They provided everything, even the cake and party favors and they played games with the kids. She had a blast and the party was relaxing actually instead of stressful.

Alexis and friends inside of the play place.

Alexis has learned how to read. She absolutely loves school and I hope she keeps that attitude for a long time. She has a great teacher and really the most patient woman I have ever met.

Grandma Dart celebrated her 85th birthday in February and the girls sang a song for a video/slide show that they had at her party.

Denali still has been having a hard time growing hair. So I attempted to give her a little bob. I am no hairstylist, but I think it turned out o.k.


Denali started a Jazz dance class and I can't wait for her recital in May. Denali keeps me very busy, but she also can be very sweet. The other day she said, "Mom, you make my heart happy." And that made my heart feel VERY happy!

Paxton is almost 1! We celebrate his birthday this week. He is a big time Momma's boy. Which is sweet, but sometimes frustrating. He is taking a few steps, here is video from today:



He brings us lots of joy and it is amazing to watch him grow. (Sorry it is kind of dark.)

Greg was appointed to be a Ephraim City councilman and is excited for the experience. He has lost 50 pounds since the end of November and he's looking good!
We celebrated our 8th Anniversary in February also! I have been busy decluttering our house, organizing our food storage and couponing. I am trying to get our grocery budget under $250 per month. Groceries includes food, toiletries, paper products, cleaners and diapers. I have really enjoyed blogging on my money saving blog, but decided to cut back on that to spend more time enjoying my kids! But I have a hard time not sharing the deals, so I may be doing some of that here. I also started a weight loss group with 21 women and so far we have lost over 84 pounds!

And last but not least, a picture of our three kids with the last photo shoot with dad!

Christmas 2009

I started this post more than a month ago, so it is about time I finished it!

This is Paxton with Santa Claus at the Dart Family Christmas party. He thought it was great . . .
until he realized how was holding him.
Then he was VERY upset! I actually missed it, because Denali was throwing up in the bathroom.:(
I love Denali's face in this photo. She is thrilled with what Santa put in her stocking!
Isn't Alexis getting so big? We spent Christmas Eve night and Christmas morning at Greg's Mom's house.
Santa knew the perfect gift for a 9 month old boy, a big blue sled! Which we enjoyed thoroughly over Christmas break. The park near our house has the perfect size hill for our little ones.
After brunch at Grandma Jones' house on Christmas day, we went to Salt Lake and spent two nights in a hotel with a water park. We went to temple square to see the lights and had a great time just being together as a family, swimming, going to the children's museum and shopping. We want to do it again next year!
Paxton - 10 months old in this photo
Alexis turned 6 in January!
Denali our mischievous 3 year old.
We are truly blessed to have wonderful happy and healthy children. I have more catching up to do, but this is it for now!

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!