"Say Cheese"

Last week my mom and sister Candace visited. It was so much fun to have visitors (so if any of you ever one to come and stay with us you are more than welcome). Most of the pictures below were taken while they were here.

Ellie, Lily (Candace's youngest), Arianne, Madeline (Candace's oldest), my youngest brother Elijah, and Malachi

Arianne, Maddie, Elijah, and Malachi

My brother Elijah. Yes, it is true I have a brother that is six years old. My mom was just about nine months pregnant with him when Roger and I got married. It is pretty funny, because Roger's family is the same way, but he is the youngest. So, I have a sister-in-law that is about 54 (or somewhere around there) and a brother that is six. Making our siblings span about fifty years in age.

Malachi is all boy. He loves all the action that he can get. He loves jumping off things (luckily he is jumping on to a tramp, which you can't see below him). Later he decided to jump off of the railing (which I didn't approve of) and I didn't get a picture of that.

Elijah taking his turn. I just love being able to get pictures of kids in action. It almost makes me want to be a kid again (almost).

My sister Candace and her two beautiful little girls.

Maddie and Lily

Lily

Lily

Isn't she sweet?

Malachi "cheesing"

Arianne enjoying the best soda out there (root beer).

And what's better than root beer? Root beer and pizza (mmmm:)

Ellie being a great poser...

Arianne is going to be Dorthy for Halloween, so I had to get the ruby red slippers, but I knew that there would be a war if Ellie didn't get a pair, too. Don't Ellie's little chubby feet look so cute in these?

Ellie feels that a cute pair of shoes (no matter the color) goes with anything and I think, in this case, she is right.

Do you know the #1 song the day that you were born?

If you don't, click here. I got this on an email and thought it was fun to find out. The #1 song on the day that I was born was "Funkytown" by Lipps, Inc. I love this song. It is such a great dancing song. Dancing was one of my favorite things to do in college and I was always excited when this song came on. I still remember the day that Roger asked me if I liked to dance (while we were dating) and I said I loved it and he was so disappointed because he hates to dance. After six and a half years of marriage, I don't think he hates dancing quite as much. Maybe in another six and a half he will love it like I do. Anyway, let me know what the #1 song was the day that you were born.

I have been having so much fun with my new camera, so down below are some pictures that I have recently taken. I have a lot more pictures than these that I want to put on my blog, but I didn't want to overload you all with pictures, so I will probably post some more in a couple of days.

My friend Shayla's two little boys (Shayla is kind of a long lost third cousin twice removed or something like that)





My friend Megan's newest baby, Porter (she is also a long lost third cousin twice removed or something like that)

Six things you probably didn't know about me...

My friend Mindy did this tag and it looked like fun.

Six random things about ME (I tried to think of what are some of the most unusual things about me, so let me know if you are similar in any of these things or maybe I am just really weird in some ways).

1. I chose my wedding date in high school. When I was in high school my soccer number was 2, and it didn't take long before it became my favorite number, so I decided (I think it was in 1996) that I wanted to get married on 02-02-02. And it just happened that I met Mr. Right (Roger) nine months before and we were married in the Salt Lake Temple on 02-02-02 (its seems like it was around two in the afternoon, too). I also chose my first boy's name (Malachi) and my first girl's name (Arianne) around the same time.

2. I cannot step on a drain with my bare feet. For some reason drains just really gross me out, so when I am in the shower, I will NEVER stand on the drain.

3. I have to shake my shoes out before I put them on (I know, something else to do with my feet). I think I am kind of scared that some poisonous spider will be in there and bite my foot. Out of the thousands of times of shaking my shoes, I have never had a spider or any other bug fall out, but I think I did see a spider web once.

4. I have broken two people's arms (not something I am proud of). Both times were to do with soccer. In sixth grade I was playing soccer at recess and I had the ball and this boy jumped on my back and was pretty much choking me. So, I threw him off my back and kicked him a few times. I stopped when I noticed that he was hurt. I felt really bad after and brought him a candy bar and tried to help him with some of his writing (it was his right arm). The second time was my sister Jessica (she is five years younger than me). Jessica was probably nine or ten. We were kicking the ball back and forth to each other and one of the times she stopped the ball with her hand and I guess it hit just right and broke her arm.

5. I sometimes crave the taste of dirt and chalk. I know it is weird. I have had people tell me that it means that I am deficient in some sort of nutrient (I don't know if I buy that). It's not like I want to make a meal out of it just a very small sample. It can't be any old dirt, either. It has to be very fine and dry. Even though I like the tastes of dirt and chalk, I do refrain (most of the time, anyway).

6. I fear public speaking more than death. I hate when all of the attention is on me. I don't mind small group things, but the idea of a lot of people listening to, only me, terrifies me. I have never given a talk in sacrament meeting (well, not since primary). I am working on this problem though, and feel like I am progressing, so hopefully one day I can let you all know that I am over it.








The next five pictures are of all my kids. I was trying to accomplish the impossible (all of my kids looking and smiling at me). Here are the results...






I had to get a picture of Malachi holding his Tinker Toy creations. He can spend hours playing with these. Even though he has Transformers, he creates his own out of Tinker Toys (His creations above are of Optimus Prime and Megatron).

Crazy?

I have noticed a lot of the blogs that I "stock" have pictures of their five-year-old starting school and maybe some of you, or maybe not, have been wondering, "Why doesn't Annie have any pictures of Malachi starting school; he is supposed to be a kindergartner, right?" Anyway, the reason I haven't posted any pictures of him going to school is because he is in a program called the Virtual Academy. It is basically online school or homeschooling. I love the program because I'm given all of the curriculum for him (K12 curriculum) and all of the school supplies and books. They also have activities at least once a month with all of the other kids that are in the program. I don't plan on homeschooling him forever, just through second grade. Some of the reasons I have chosen to do this is...One, because I would prefer to be my child's number one source of influence until the age of accountability (8 years old). Another, is because it has been wonderful to have three hours of quality time with Malachi everyday(and Arianne and Ellie, who like to participate in everything that Malachi is doing). There are many other reasons, but those are the two main ones. I have nothing against public schooling and I intend to eventually send my kids to school, but since I have the choice, I have chosen to do homeschooling for now. Hopefully, none of you think I am too crazy.

If you don't want to see a bunch of pictures, then don't go any further. I have attached a lot of pictures that I have taken recently. Most of the pictures are of Ellie, because Arianne and Malachi absolutely hate getting their pictures taken. Ellie is not a big fan of picture taking either, but she can be bribed a little easier (as seen below, with a sucker). I also have a few pictures of two of my friend Emily's boys (she has three, but her four-year-old wasn't too eager to have his picture taken, sounds familiar). Sorry if you get bored of the view of my backyard; it is the easiest way to contain children while trying to take their picture.