A Dancing Success!

Cassidy had her first dance performance and she didn't even cry! I was SO nervous that she would run off stage crying. But she sure proved me wrong! It was ADORABLE. I have never been so happy to be her mother. She's the cutest!

Cassidy and Jilly:Lexi and Cassidy:ballerina pose:

Isn't she to die for?

Wow, I've posted a lot lately.

This is what happens when you do Christmas pictures yourself

This is what happens when you try and do Christmas pictures by yourself:

(Cassidy is pulling on his ear)Our brilliant curtain idea came crashing down, quite literally.and yet we did it anyway all for one or two pretty good shots:
In case you're thinking, "Oh, that doesn't look too bad..." it's because we deleted the worst pictures (crying babies) before I thought to put them on the blog.

But I thought our Santa adventure was quite the success. Baby Ethan sat on Santa's lap first, to show big sis that it's not so bad. Then she climbed on hesitatingly, forced a smile for the photo, and then climbed off graciously. And with tears welling up in her eyes, she recited, "I need a pwincess dwess, a bike and toys," all by herself! We had talked about seeing Santa for SO long and kept reminding her that she would NOT cry. I was VERY proud of her!

She points out Santas all the time now (half the time it's just a guy with a beard) and gets excited. It's just his lap that is scary to her. She really does love the idea of him and is very excited for this Christmas!

We were too impatient for Santa to bring Cassidy a bike, so we got her this used one FREE! She loves to ride it, even in the freezing cold:

Don't worry; Santa still might bring her a shiny red trike. We just have to wait and see!

Baby Ethan Update: He got his second tooth shortly after that first one. He is scooting backwards and always getting stuck under everything: couches, beds, tables, you name it. He now gets mad when you lay him down for naps, which is very unlike him. He still loves his jumperoo, and he thinks that everything Cassidy does is hilarious. Just for fun:

Never been tagged

In all my many five months of blogging I have never been tagged (specifically by name). So thanks Cass, for tagging me. I hope you guys don't die of boredom:

1.Do you like bleu cheese? No way. I'm so picky I don't even like soup.
2. Have you ever smoked? I have never been offered a smoke...but I'm confident I would still say NO.
3. Do you own a gun? Heck no.
4. What flavor Kool-Aid was your favorite? I prefer the watermelon invisible Kool-Aid, and I will explain why: 1. It doesn't stain. 2. It doesn't taste as disgustingly strong. 3. It's fun to trick first-time tasters that it's water (btw, Cass, didn't I trick you once with it?). 4. It's not sticky. OK; that last one was a lie. Of course it's sticky; it's still Kool-Aid!
5. Do you get nervous about doctor appointments? Yep, esp. my kids' appointments when they get shots.
6. What do you think of hot dogs? Turkey Franks are the best.
7. Favorite Christmas movie? the Grinch (with Jim Carrey) by a mile! It's not just my favorite Christmas movie; It is my favorite movie EVER. I make myself resist watching it year-round so it will still be special when December comes. How geeky am I? My class even watched it in French today (en francais, bien sur!)
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? I try and be healthy and have fruit and water. But then 9:00 rolls around and I get hungry and eat whatever's around (at school all I have is granola bars). Did that even answer the question?
9. Can you do push-ups? Yeah-I used to go to "cardio camp" at the gym and our instructor would have us do push-ups by the 50's. It was intense. I went to that class until I was 5 mos. pregnant with Ethan. I was more in shape then than I am now.
10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? My rings; I feel naked without them.
11. Favorite hobby? Cassidy has nine scrapbooks. Need I say more? And I asked Santa for a Cricut machine.
12. Do you have ADD? No, but all my students seem to.
13. What's one trait you hate about yourself? I hate how I somehow think I have to steal all the attention when I'm in a group. Even when the subject has nothing to do with me; I'm working on it.
14. Middle initial? J.
15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment? I'm hungry. I'm tired. I don't want to plan my lessons.
16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? milk, juice, water. In that order. (Bad, I know)
17. Current worry? How to survive another half-year teaching. This Christmas break is arriving just in time.
18. Current hate right now? The disrespectful attitude of adolescents towards teachers.
19. Favorite place to be? My bed.
20. How did you ring in the new year? I usually go to the New Year's Party at my sister's house. But Joel ALWAYS works New Years, so it's not my favorite holiday.
21. Where would you like to go? On a Cruise to anywhere.
22. Name 3 people to tag? Sheila, Anna and Ann Elise
23. Do you own slippers? Do Mukluks count? They are the best! (Big woven moccasins that go up the leg)
24. What shirt are you wearing? A white tank-top with a green half-sweater.
25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Sure, but lame question.
26. Can you whistle? Not very well. It takes me a minute just to get out one good toot.
27. Favorite color? Pink, although I don't wear it half as much as I used to.
28. Would you be a pirate? Can I change these questions? Seriously.
29. What songs do you sing in the shower? Right now? Baby, it's cold out side, Let it Snow, Il est ne, le divin enfant...you get the idea. Usually? RESPECT (by Aretha Franklin), all the songs from "Enchanted," kid songs when the kids are awake to keep them entertained, the list goes on...poor Joel has to listen to me.
30. Favorite girl's name? Cassidy and Mia. Joel will never let me name my daughter Mia. (Me a Keeper!)
31. Favorite boy's name? Ethan
32. What's in your pocket right now? no pockets.
33. Last thing that made you laugh? I am laughing right now at Cassidy who is clapping...for no reason at all.
34. What vehicle do you drive? a white Chevy Aveo. It's like a tiny tiny mini-van. My neighbor's little boy said, "Look, Mom, it's a baby van."
35. Worst injury? I fractured a bone in my foot in high-school, but I didn't let it slow me down way bad. I still danced at the dances. In college I broke my wrist rollerblading backwards (not my brightest moment). I had to write left-handed for over a month. It was a rough semester.
36. Do you love where you live? Clearfield is not the most attractive place to live, but I LOVE my friends I have met in the townhomes. There are some jogging trails, but I have to drive to them, which to me defeats the purpose.
37. How many TVs do you have in your house? one and it is in the freezing cold basement, so we have no idea what is going on in the world.
38. Who is your loudest friend? I'm too loud to notice.
39. Do you have any pets? No, but I want to get Cassidy a fish.
40. Does someone have a crush on you? I used to have problems with all males named Travis, but that was a long time ago. I think I'm pretty safe now.
41. Your favorite book? Are you my mother? (a kid book)
42. Do you collect anything? scrapbook supplies.
43. Favorite sports team? the Jazz, I guess.
44. What song do you want played at your funeral? What? I have NO idea. If I had to choose, I guess it would be the Prayer by Josh Groban.

My Christmas Gift to the Savior

Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love the way cities light up, the way people come together giving to others; I love the hustle and bustle of shopping in the crowded stores. I love sledding (when there's snow...), making ginger-bread houses, the smell of my Christmas candle. And I love the music. Ah, the music. But there is one thing in particular that makes Christmas the most special time of year to me.
Each year my family gets together on Christmas Eve. We spend time together eating dinner, acting out the nativity scene, and each of us gets to unwrap one present. But my favorite part of the evening is when we give our "gifts" to the savior for his birth (like the three wisemen). We sit together, and, as our gifts to the Savior, we share our testimonies of the gospel. It is truly my favorite night of the year. This year, my heart is very full, and so I would like to share my testimony of the Savior with all of you. I know that my savior came to this earth as a tiny infant in the most humble circumstances. He lived a perfect life, and set the perfect example to follow. I know He suffered in Gethsemane for our sins. My sins. It hurts me to know that he suffered because of me. But I am thankful that He did. He lived and died for us so that we may repent of our sins and come to Him. And because of Him we may return to live with our Father in Heaven once more. I am so thankful to Him for all He has done for me. I know he knows each one of us. He knows our needs and our trials. And He is there to comfort us.
He is my Lord, my Redeemer.
I am so thankful for this knowledge, and to know that I am a daughter of God. I know He loves us and wants us all to return to Him someday. I pray that this Christmas season, we may all take the time to remember why we celebrate Christmas.
Merry Christmas, everyone!

So Sweet

I was just putting the kids down for their naps. I went downstairs and I could hear Cassidy crying in her room. As I walked back up the stairs to see what was the matter, the crying turned to screams. I went in and asked what was the matter. Cassidy said very sadly, "I love you, too." I always say, "I love you" as I walk out the door, and apparently I had shut the door before hearing her response. Isn't that so sweet?

Keepin' up with the Keepers!

Okay, so this might sound very lame to some of you...but I am bored of our blog name: Keeper Life. The other week I was telling some friends how we already had our Christmas tree up (yes, this was before Thanksgiving). My friend said, "Ooh, we need to keep up with the Keepers!" And I thought it was SO funny and catchy. I thought I had heard it all. At the hospital people would say about our baby girl, "She's a Keeper!" and "You should 'Keep 'er!" I didn't realize that our name could have any more puns.
Long story short--I want to re-name our blog "Keepin' up with the Keepers", because it's how our friends and family "keep up" or current with our lives. But Joel thinks it's offensive and will make people think our blog is a big show-off or contest...you know, "keepin' up with the Jones." Believe me, I know my blog is not the best, nor do I care for it to be. I just want to re-name it. So I figure, if I can get you guys to take the poll (it's anonymous), then we can settle this once and for all. (Don't worry-our marriage is not suffering due to this difference in opinion). Thanks in advance!

He has a tooth!

Today is November 10, which means Baby Ethan is now eight months old! Wow, time goes by quickly. A couple days ago I noticed that if you look in his mouth, you could see some little white teeth on bottom (still inside the gums). Then today I reached in and there is a tiny tooth poking through! This explains all his fussiness lately, and makes me feel bad. He kept waking up from naps early and screaming, and I didn't know what his problem was. I was frustrated, so I even let him cry himself back to sleep this afternoon (he only cried a few minutes). But still! The poor guy was in real pain, and I just let him cry. He's over it by now, if you can't tell from his picture below:

I will post tooth pictures once the tooth gets big enough to catch on camera.

The video below I took last week. He had been laughing even harder before the camera came out (of course).

If you are wondering how my teaching is going...it's a roller coaster. Planning lessons and correcting homework, quizzes and tests is like doing laundry. It is NEVER DONE!! And as for my students, they have good days and bad days. Sometimes they drive me up the wall and I can't wait for that bell to ring. But other times we have so much fun that the bell rings with out me even realizing that class is nearly over. I recently went to a Foreign Language conference, and got tons of ideas, so right now we are on the fun side again. Hooray!

I guess a good way to measure how well things are going would be to not ask me (since I'm too negative about myself), but rather ask others. For example, my students often tell me French is their favorite class (yay!), my administrators often tell me what an excellent job I do (yay!) and my mentor usually has only good things to say (yay!). Plus, they have put me on as Jing's mentor (the Chinese teacher who I share a room with), so that says something, right? A first year teacher mentoring another teacher? I was flattered.

Ha ha, do you like how I tricked you into reading about my teaching with pictures of my baby?

Yes, I have my moments!

pea in a pod

We had a fun fun Halloween season, and are sad it is over! We went to a corn maze/pumpkin patch with some friends and had a blast. Cassidy and Ethan got to ride the cow train. Cassidy's friend Emma was such a big girl and held Baby Ethan on the train.

They had a huge "sand box" filled with corn! Brilliant idea; Cassidy loved it! I thought about putting one in my back yard, but it smelled kind of funny. Plus, where do you find that much corn?

We all had fun making our pumpkins. I am anti-guck so I painted mine and so did Cass. Joel's pumpkin got a little hungry and ate Baby Ethan's pumpkin.

Cassidy was a cheerleader for Halloween and I thought she was SO cute! But she didn't think that was good enough. She insisted that she was a "cheerleader princess."

Baby Ethan was a pea in a pod!

After trick-or-treating to our neighborhood for a while, we went to a fun Halloween carnival by my sister's house.Showing off her cheerleader skills!"Forget trick-or-treating!

This is WAAAAY better!"

This has nothing to do with Halloween, but I thought baby Ethan looked so adorable in his little suit that I had to post it!

Happy day-after-Halloween, everybody!

top ten

I thought I would write about my kids' top ten favorite things/things to do. This is probably just as much (or more) for me than it is for you. But enjoy:

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Baby Ethan:

10. pretending he can't sit up on his own...we know he can; he just won't!

9. car rides...they still put him fast to sleep.

8. mornings...he is always smiling when I go in to get him.

7. breakfast, lunch and dinner...he gobbles them up! We even made up a silly song about how much he eats. It goes:

He eats when he's happy,
he eats when he's sad...
and when he's not eating, he gets really really mad.
So we feed him when he's happy;
we feed him when he's sad;
we feed him when he's really really really really mad!

.

6. sucking on things...toys, fingers, his toes, our toes (we don't let him, although he's tried), mommy's necklaces, etc.

5. snuggle time in the morning with Daddy, while Mommy races off to work.

4. Momm'ys hair...he loves how it tickles his face. He gets so excited.

3. the Jumperoo...he loves to jump!

2. peek-a-boo...what baby doesn't love that game?

1. Cassidy...he loves his sister the most; she can make him laugh so hard!

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Princess Cassidy:

10. singing silly songs all day (see example above)

9. teasing her baby brother

8. going to Elizabeth's house (her sitter)

7. going pee in potty while we are out and about (and while the cart is full to the top)

6. her "princess movie" (Enchanted)

5. riding her little pink "bike"...she needs a new one; she has totally outgrown that push bike.

4. shopping...go figure

3. playing with friends or cousins

2. her princess dresses

1. dance class...she will do ANYTHING to get to go to dance class!

.

Baby Ethan recently started growling the word, "dadadada". Last week Cassidy said, "Baby, say 'dada'," to which he replied, "dadadada." Cassidy then said, "Good job. Say 'Elizabeth'."

La famille

Get your own Family Sticker Maker & MySpace Layouts.

Voila les photos!

I have not put many pictures on here recently, so here they all are. Enjoy!

This was at the TreeHouse Museum like two months ago. SO FUN! I HIGHLY recommend it.

There are tons of houses and "countries" to visit there, and lots of dress-ups.
Joel had fun building a tower. He's just a big kid at heart!
Cassidy was very excited about the idea of destroying the tower! This is it half-destroyed.

We had fun making up silly plays.

When Baby Ethan figured out how to jump in his Jumperoo a month ago, suddenly, he was a much happier baby! He LOVES his Jumperoo.

Cassidy started dance class and LOVES it. It is the highlight of her week!

Cassidy tried on Baby Ethan's "pea in a pod" halloween costume.

I thought it was pretty funny.

Hiking last month in Ogden

The kids love hiking.

Mommy was not careful when opening the door to JCPenney and it went right over Cassidy's foot. She had to get four stitches. Bad mommy! Cassidy was screaming while they were stitching her, and I said, "Isn't it numb?" They said, "Yah, she's just mad we are holding her down." Poor thing. But she LOVES telling the story of how mommy gave her owies.

Baby Ethan was the inspiration for this post, as today is his seven month birthday! Whoa, he is an old man! Time goes too quickly. Isn't he SO cute? We just adore him.

Happy birthday, bubbies!

Cheer up, baby

So this afternoon Baby Ethan was being very grumpy. I was trying to make treats in the kitchen for Joel's birthday and Ethan was in the high chair fussing. Suddenly I noticed that the crying had stopped. I looked over and Cassidy had taken things into her own hands. This is what I saw:

Baby Ethan was covered in Cinderella dolls. Nice, Cass!

p.s. Happy birthday, Hunny. I love you!