Happy 3rd Birthday Grayson & Lauren

So my babies turned 3 this past Saturday, September 20th, 2008!!! Yep it was 3 years ago that my little twins entered this world at 10:24am and 10:25am. Our lives haven't been the same since.

We had their birthday party at the house and the kids had a great time. We did a craft project where they painted their hands on a canvass that I had pre-painted and hung ribbon from it so that the kids could put it on their walls as art. We had cake, opened gifts and just played. It was great. They have for sure gotten down the concept of gifts now. Lauren couldn't get enough and kept saying "more presents mommy more presents." That's when you realize that your kid probably has gotten too many gifts.

Here are some pics from their special day. You can see all the pics from their birthday and past months on our Snapfish website by clicking here.

Trick or Treat

So last week I went to an Enrichment Focus Group night at our wonderful RS Presidents house and she showed us how to make these adorable Trick or Treat banners out of scrapbook paper and some ribbon. Of course she came up with this idea on her own. She rocks. Anyway, I loved them so much I had to make more. I made 6 total - one of which says Happy Harvest. They take FOREVERRRRRRR to make and I have never cut so much paper in my life, but they are adorable and worth every minute. Here is a really bad pic of all of them across my table. I had to squish them in to get them on the table but when hung up they are so cute!!! I just had to show them off.

Three White Dresses Video

Yesterday was a busy day, Sat 9/20. The twins officially turned 3 at 10:23am and 10:24am. We had a long day planned with of course a great party and bbq for the family afterwards (tons of pics coming for that later). That morning however we went to a Stake Activity Day for the Activity Day girls ages 8 - 11, which I am a leader for in my Ward. Braxton and Darrian are in the program with me. Braxton gave a short talk about her commitment to finish the requirements outlined in the Faith in God program, which is part of Activity Day's. Anyway, it was a very special morning as the girls were able to do a service project for children of military parents and then we went into another room to learn more about the temple and the importance of completing all the programs and goals the church has set up for the youth in order to live a happy life and get to the Temple someday.

I am copying Michelle's idea of posting this to my blog because I think this is something everyone should see, but here is a video that they showed at the end of the program about three special white dress. Your blessing, baptism and wedding dresses. Three very significant times in girl/young womans life. Remember to mute my playlist so that you can hear the music. Hope you enjoy the video as much as we did. The church is so true!

Cute shirts

So I saw these adorable shirts at Walgreens the other day and couldn't resist getting them for the twins. Here is a couple cute pics of them in their new shirts with daddy before preschool Tuesday.




Lauren has started dressing up in Darrian's old princess play clothes. The twins are having a field day with the new attire. Unfortunately I couldn't post the pics of Grayson as he was in his birthday suit with several princess embellishments. It was hysterical. Here he is however in Mr. Rock Star mode. He loves his guitar.

Crazy Kids

So Grayson and Lauren found the guitar that I had bought them for their birthday and was trying to hide until this weekend. They had previously played with a friends barbie guitar and LOVED IT. So I figured this would be a great gift. Well after they had already seen it for a couple weeks and tried to string them along as much as I could, I finally gave in and just let them start playing with it. They haven't put it down since. Here is Grayson, in yet another Grayson outfit creation, playing his new favorite toy. Let's not overlook the sweat pants, with the dress shirt, tie and tap shoes. Hey my kid has style! :)


So I was out looking for Halloween costumes for Grayson and ran across this little ballerina outfit for Lauren and couldn't resist. She couldn't wait to wear it to dance class. Here are some pics from our 2nd night at dance. I can not even begin to express how much she LOVES dance. She really reallllllly enjoys going and it's all she talks about that entire day. She really does do everything the teacher asks and doesn't skip a beat. It is so adorable to see all these little girls in their outfits each week just having a great time. And once again, Grayson wasn't interested.

Time to change my shoes!

Here is my cubie where I keep my bag mom!

This is where Grayson spent his time - on the bench eating breath mints. ughhhh


So Heath has really been wanting to complete our 72 hour kits forever now! Well over Labor Day weekend, we hunkered down and did it. Potty trained the twins AND prepared our kits all at the same time. Whew we are good. :) We found these great clear back packs for $3 and figured they were the best option for each of the kids. You could see right into them and know exactly what you have at all times. I put their names in each and we hung them on the wall for easy access. I am currently finishing mine up and Heath is ready to roll with his huge Navy sea bag. It really did feel good to just get it done. We sure hope we never have to use them, but if we do then we are ready.

Trip to the Dentist

Well we had our first dental appointment today. Since the twins will be 3 in a couple of weeks I thought it was time that we at least get a quick check up and see how bad of parents we have really been. :) Lauren without a doubt was by far the best little princess ever. She did everything the dentist asked and then of course there was Grayson. Stuck to his dad like a bad tooth ache! Here are some pics from our experience at Dr. Frakums office.



That have this really cool camera that goes in your mouth and shows up on the screen. Lauren had hers done but daddy was behind the camera then so we didn't get a pic of her. They really liked seeing themselves on a montior and especially in side their mouth.

Another Big Day

Wed. (9/3/08) Grayson started his therapy based preschool. He will attend this preschool on Mon and Wed mornings while Lauren hangs with mom. I of course was already a basket case on the way there and new it wasn't going to be a pleasant drop off. He was attached to Heath's leg, no surprise but Heath being the much stronger one, took Lauren and left the room while I stayed to try and console him. I finally had to just leave him and new he would eventually be fine. When we got back in the van Lauren was very upset and kept saying she wanted buddy. Yes that didn't help out the tear flowage any either. She was in a bit of a mood for the next hour or so until I was able to bribe her with M&M's. 3 hours later I was able to get there a little early and watch him playing outside with his classmates. He was having a blast. Watching him run from one play toy to the next is a riot. He runs as fast as he can while swinging both arms as high as they can possibly go. I could have sat and just watched him play for hours. He was so happy. Here are some pics from that morning.







That same evening the twins and Darrian started dance class. Grayson & Lauren are taking a combo tap/ballet class while Darrian takes a tap class at the same time. Words can no even express how excited Lauren was. It was all she talked about that day and when we got there, there wasn't a second of hesitation. She took right off into her class and had a blast! Grayson, not so much. He wouldn't leave Heath's side most of the time and we could barely get him to get his shoes on. He would make an appearance periodically in the room, run a lap around the other kids and then bolt back out the door to see us. ughhhh We will stick this out through the month and see how it goes with him but I reallllly hope he likes it. The kids LOVE to dance around the house, I know he would really enjoy this if he just gave it a chance. Darrian also loved her class. They worked on a lot of basic tap techniques and then did some moves to music. I took a lot of video of both of their classes. It will be fun to watch it back.


Once class was over, Lauren was TICKED. She did NOT want to stop dancing and made her attitude known. This is her having a moment against the wall.

That night the kids were exhausted. Grayson has been showing up on the floor of our bedroom the last several mornings and even more recently has decided that sleeping on the family room floor, just outside of his bedroom, was more comfortable than his bed. Go figure. Here he is asleep on the floor. He had asked for this ball right before he fell asleep. Guess it is more comfy than a pillow.



These are a couple of cute pics I had from the past weekend I had to post. Grayson had to pick out his own outfit (down to the socks and tie) for church. You can't really notice the tie, but it's there. Adorable!!! This more than warranted a photo op with daddy.

The day before we had been preparing our 72 hour kit list for the packs we were making. Here is Lauren taking her own notes with my sunglasses on. She thinks she is quite the diva for sure!

Look mommy, I did my own hair.


And last, here is pic of Grayson's speech therapist Hailey. He was able to have Hailey come into our home once a week for the last 9 months to work on his speech development with him. Now that he is going to be 3 and going to preschool through the district, we had to say goodbye to our wonderful Hailey. The twins were in a mood this morning but they did love her dearly. Lauren would even say "hey the lady is here" when she would arrive. Grayson was always waiting to greet her and open the door for her. We really looked forward to her visits.