Blessed

Last night for FHE we put together some Hygiene kits for a humanitarian aid project our RS is doing. Mike pulled up an email that was sent to him. The email was talking about how much we have to be grateful for. It showed some sad pictures of the suffering in third world countries. Our kids were very touched by what they saw. Annie especially felt that our little hygiene kits were not enough. She kept saying things like, " I think we should send them some money", and " Mom, we have lots of water bottles in the fridge, let's mail them some of our water bottles." It was amazing to see the compassion that flowed from my kids. It made us all feel so grateful for our abundant blessings. I hope this experience will be the first of many humanitarian projects we do as a family. Seeing my kids response to this small act of service made me want to come up with more service we could do as a family. I am wondering what service other families do together. Anyone have any good ideas? I would love to hear some family success stories!

Like Mother, Like Daughter....

Casie thinks she's hilarious!!! Apparently, so did my Mother-in-law....:-)

Mike Mike you rock!

If you drive by my house and see 2-6 men in my bedroom, don't be alarmed.....I assure you there is no funny business going on! Voice Male is recording their Kids CD in our Studio/Bedroom/closet. Mike has literally been working around the clock with different members of the group at a time. Twice last week we had people here until 2am! Mike has been so amazing in his efforts to make this project come to pass. He truly amazes me with his musical talent. I think his official title is : ProducerDirectorArrangerSongwriterEditorEngineer. I am on climate control, pizza delivery, and "Stank control"....(sorry Voice Male, but six guys cooped up in a hot room calls for a couple cans of Glade!)

Yesterday, I figured Mike would be working on the CD into the wee hours of the morning again. So it surprised me when he called me from work and asked me out for a date. He didn't tell me where we were going, he just said he was sick of being cooped up and wanted to take his SMOKIN HOT WIFE out on the town...(I may be embellishing this story slightly)....anyway...He ended up taking me to Thanksgiving Point to see the comedian Brian Reagan. As if that weren't enough, he also packed a fun snack of "cheese and wine". He brought some wine glasses and sparkling grape juice. He also bought some DELICIOUS specialty cheese. (I'll never go Western Family again!...Layne, I almost cried..lol) We had fun feeling like "proper" folk. The cheese and "wine" mood didn't quite fit with our laughing our HEADS off at Brian Reagan. We were both seriously in tears. I thought I might go into labor. I love comedy that is clever and funny without being inappropriate!

I only had enough battery in my camera to get a few shots. But I will tell you it was a BEAUTIFUL night. There was an honest to goodness cool breeze and a full Moon. Perfect! Thanks Mike for such a fun night! You did good! I love you.

Here is the awesome amphitheater with the Waterfall behind it. So pretty!

My Baby starts Kindergarten!

Last Tuesday my little Ellie started Kindergarten! She was SO excited! She woke up at 6:55am and came into my room, " Is it time for school yet Mommy?" I knew then that it would be a long day. :-) Luckily we had a doctors appointment and swimming lessons to take up the morning! I put her on the bus and then got in the van and followed her to school. She was beaming. I sure love that little...I mean, big girl!....(ok, so I am slightly enjoying my three hours in the after noon, but I still miss my little buddy)

I took this footage at Ellie's swimming lesson that morning. I can't believe my baby started Kindergarten AND learned to dive (sort of) in the same day!

Sunday Afternoon

As a child I remember Sunday afternoon's as the funnest time of the week. Probably because Mom and Dad would take a nap, and the kids got free reign of the house! We did SO many fun things as brothers and sisters...usually Ben was the spear head for our adventures. I remember building tunnels, playing school..or church, and of coarse our favorite...VIDEO MAGIC! My girls seem to be following in the same footsteps of my youth. They always seem to come up with a fun game to play together on Sundays. It's funny because very rarely do all three of them play together during the week. They usually pair off, or find a friend to hang out with. Sunday's always seem to bring them together. Here is a small game they made up today. The object of the game is to balance across the couch. Annie, who is on the recliner, had to make some whooshing sound before they began. It's pretty funny....

First Day of School

After a short three week summer, the kids started school! Annie was told to bring a hat that told about her interests. She LOVES drawing and is remarkably good at it. We didn't have a hat that represented drawing, so this is what she came up with. I think it's adorable! Casie told me she would kill over in embarrassment if I came to her class and took a picture of her, so this is the best I could get. Ellie will start Kindergarten this Tues. She keeps saying, "You are going to cry SO hard when I go to school!" I told her that I might have to meet Dad at Cafe' Rio so we can cry together. lol I actually probably will shed a tear. She is my baby!

Family Fun

Friday we decided to take our family up to the mountains. It was so beautiful! I loved the cool temperature and the gorgeous scenery. We ended up riding the tram to the top of one of the mountains. The girls LOVED the ride! They saw deer, hikers, and even some little rodents that reminded them of Peaches..(our hamster) I loved being with my family in the outdoors and appreciating this beautiful world we live in. As has been the case lately, I forgot my camera:-( This photo was taken with my phone. I guess we will have to go again soon for more photo's!

Memories

I got this from Emily and Mindy.
Here's the deal:1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.It's easy to just copy and paste this to your blog if ya wanna play.

Parades and Pets

This Saturday we had our Primary parade. As we were getting ready, Ellie asked, " So is this parade for The Sound of Music, or for School house rock?" I guess she is getting used to the "parade circuit" she's been on lately. BTW School house rock is our next theatrical adventure. It's the cities children's play. They asked me to help direct months ago and I said yes (um, what was I thinking??)....this was all before I knew how tired I would be at this point! It will give Casie a chance to be on stage, so that's a plus. :-) Anyway, back to the parade.....The kids all dressed in Red, White, and Blue, and brought instruments to play. We had about 10 people watching, but it was still fun. The fire truck even showed up to escort us down the road. We ended up at the park where we were fed a nice pancake breakfast. Mike was at Scout camp so he missed all the excitement, but we had a good time. :-)
On the way home, the girls found a strange caterpillar. The texture feels just like human skin and it has two little spots on it's head that look like eyes. My research on-line told me that these, "pretend eyes" are to make the caterpillar look like a "big scary snake" so that birds wouldn't want to eat it. Do you ever wonder where this information comes from? How do they know that the caterpillar wants to look like a snake? How on earth did they extract that information from it's little brain? I'm thinking torture,... but it could also be a tiny lie detector test....Anyway, the caterpillar is now named"Pumpkin", and resides in a jar on Annie's dresser. We are all awaiting the transformation of our new pet.
I had to laugh as I watched the girls fight over who got to hold Pumpkin. They were all taking turns between Peaches( the hamster) and Pumpkin, (the caterpillar),.... and there sat BIG ol' Brandon (the dog) without a hand to pet him. Why must things be "tiny" to capture my daughters affection? :-)

Opening night...again!

We had another fabulous opening night tonight! Here's a little teaser for ya'll!

Opening night!

Last night was me and Annie's opening night for the play! Annie was AMAZING! We had such a fun time!! We had 15 people there supporting just us!...(there were other people there too) :-) Annie was on cloud nine after the show. She had groups of people surrounding her asking for her autograph! I was so proud. Mike and Ellie will have their opening night tonight!!!

I'm having a baby???

It's become a little tradition that when a new baby is born into the family, my amazingly talented sister-in-law Anna, comes and helps decorate a nursery. Along with the amazingly talented Anna, comes a dedicated, hard working and able bodied husband, Brian. Together with Rich and Melissa as work horses/comical entertainment, and Grandma to feed and nourish our bodies, we were able to paint a nursery for Jack yesterday! It was so fun to watch it come together so quickly! I am so grateful to my awesome family for their sacrifice to come and do this for me! I love you guys! I will post more pictures when the room has been sufficiently decorated and "babied up", but here is the base for my adorable nursery!

"The Amazingly talented Anna"! This is our blank canvas! We had lots of energy at this point.

Here is the dedicated, hard working, able bodied Brian measuring and sawing the boards. Melissa is watching over to make sure all is done right, and I'm pretty sure Rich just got done doing a Neil Diamond impersonation. You can also see we had a few "little helpers."...I did mention that I was grateful for the sacrifices my family made didn't I?.....needless to say, the toy room/house made a sacrifice as well. :-)
Almost done! The top color is actually a dark brown...it looks a little black in this photo...ok, so it looks a little black in real life too, but I really like it. I plan on decorating in different brown plaids, sepia photos, and "old looking" toys. Isn't this a "boyish" room!? I am really happy with it.

Fourth of July!

I am finally getting around to posting about our busy Fourth of July Weekend. I honestly think that each of these days could warrant a post of it's own, but instead, I will sum up our weekend in photo's!

The top high light of any holiday for Casie is the presence of her cousins! It is so fun and satisfying to see these three become close. They were inseparable this weekend. They laughed, stayed up late, played the computer, and devoured a whole bag of Marshmallow Maties!


On to the Hintze family BBQ! Every 4th we gather at my Uncle Richards house for a family reunion. We do the same things every year and we love it! It starts out with YUMMY food..."we got burgers, .....we got dogs....we got chicken..." This is photo only represents a FEW of the yummy desserts that were present at the feast...WHY DID I CHOOSE THIS YEAR TO QUIT SUGAR! Can you believe the temptation!? Because I knew the baby wanted it, I did end up eating a piece of key lime pie...and lemon cake....and two bites of Mindy's chocolate cake. :-) Mike the goodie goodie had nothing!...(oh and he has now lost 13 pounds...I am proud of him)
After eating we all play volley ball, slip and slide and all the kids run around like wild children...it's so fun!

Here's Julie..(who has a weakness for all things pertaining to water) doing a beautiful, toe pointed, Super man, slip and slide dive. Notice her beauty and grace. :-)

Here's my sweet little Annie. She was actually COLD in this photo! Who's cold on the fourth of July? :-)

Introducing my skinny sexy hubby! I think in this photo he is giving me a smug look because he knew I was about to break our sugar fast....and he was NOT. I really do respect his will power though. He's such a babe!My cute, cute niece!

After the BBQ we went home for some much needed rest! We had a nice siesta, then were up and ready for some fireworks! Mike and I decided to just do some good ol' Harmons Grocery Store fireworks instead of attending an actual show. Most of that decision was based on the fact that we had been up till mid-night the whole week for play practice, and had an early morning rehearsal the next day. The kids loved the fireworks, and we loved that they were in bed early....ok these days 11:00 is early!
This is where "Brandon the Brave" spent the night of the Fourth. For every ounce we enjoy fireworks,...Brandon despises them! He found the darkest corner of the house and cowered there all night. :-)

The next day Mike and the kids were off to rehearsals, and I was off to another wonderful Sister Saturday! We had a fun time learning first aide and CPR. This is a photo of Sarah doing a "breath check". We also had a "tea party"( I was too busy eating to snap a photo). Then we did pedicures and manicures. It was great! Thanks Cait!

The NEXT day....we to got to drive to Richfield to see Heston blessed. It was so wonderful. Stephen and Kenzie are such cute parents! Heston is absolutely adorable! We had a yummy lunch in my Mom's back yard while once again...the kids ran wild with their cousins. I love being with family!

Stephen was trying to get Heston to smile in this photo. I think it's an adorable photo of father and son!

Here we are after enjoying a wonderful lunch! We look so content and refreshed.........

or not.... Needless to say, we were all very tired at the end of this fun packed weekend!

Celebrate good times!

If I didn't know it would scare away all my readers and friends, I would post a picture of me (six months pregnant) in mid-air, doing a heel click!.....why would I do such an act of joy you ask?....well, because SCHOOL IS OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh the pain of waking my under slept children in the morning! The swatting and whining and kicking and pouting....and all the things the kids did too! lol With play practice running until 10 or 11 every night, my kids have been zombies lately...Little disobedient, emotional, grouchy,over tired zombies! I should have recorded one of our infamous mornings and posted it. I will tell you it wasn't pretty. Mike and I made a VALIANT effort to be cheerful and bright. I even devised plans of pancakes, bacon, eggs, and french toast (on different mornings) to lure them out of bed, but somehow, we never had a smooth morning....BUT....now that school is out, they can sleep in as late as their little bladders will allow!! We still have another 2 weeks of late nights, but I think we will be more rested now!

To prove my point...or to prove that I am a mean Mom, I will say that it's 2:30 pm on the last day of school and my kids are ALL asleep! We had such a late night last night, and another tonight, so I insisted that they take a nap. When they wake up I told them I would take them swimming to celebrate their freedom....wait...that means I will have to get in a swimming suit...maybe they will settle for the splash park!

On a different note...and pardon me as I hoist my large body onto this soap box....but I have to share a life altering change Mike and I have made! Believe it or not, we have decided to stop eating sugar! It's been a week and 1/2 and Mike has already lost 7 pounds! I feel better than I have in a long time! We are both amazed at how much sugar we are presented with on a daily basis! It's EVERYWHERE! We aren't going too extreme. We still eat foods that contain a little sugar, but we stay away from things that are inherently sweet, like desserts and candy. It hasn't been easy for this sugaroholic, but I really feel good about the decision. Obviously, I haven't noticed any weight loss...that's not my goal, but I have only gained 5 pounds so far, and I feel great. Considering I gained between 25-40 with my other pregnancies I feel like I am on a good track......( I am not going to mention how I almost chased down,tackled, and stole an ice cream cone from a lady in the mall.)

Man! I feel like a woman!

Today Ellie and I went with Grandma to get our nails done! I so rarely do anything like this...(like never) and it felt good to be pampered. I just got a basic manicure, and Ellie got her nails painted. Grandma got a pedicure and manicure. Ellie has informed me that next time we go, she would like a full set of acrylic nails! :-)

Cute Girls

I have to share a few cute things about the Bearden girls....


Last night we were playing Apples to Apples. The word we were all trying to describe was "Calm". Ellie was the judge, and the words she had to choose from were: Camels, Dolphins, potato chips and high heels. When Ellie chose Camels as the winner, Annie got a little mad. (in true Annie fashion) She thought hers would win for sure! I asked which one was hers. "It was high heels!" she said in a frusterated tone. I tried to think of a way that high heels could be considered calm. Before I came up with anything she explained by saying, "you know,... cause the grass up there is really softly blowing..." After a couple seconds of puzzlment, we all burst out laughing. We realized that she thought the card meant, "High Hills". Annie laughed at herself too. It's so cute when first graders start to read by themselves! :-)

A couple of days ago, Ellie wouldn't listen to me when I told her it was time to leave play practice. She wanted to play with her friend instead. As I have done many times before, I pulled out the ol'......"Ok, I guess you want to be in Ana's family now,...see you later." Ellie LOVED this idea! The next day at breakfast she brought it up again. She asked if I could take her to Ana's family that day so she could be their new sister. I then tried to bring her back to real life by saying, "But Ellie, wouldn't you miss your mommy?" She got a bit thoughtful and said, "mmmm, no, I think I've had enough time with you."


I got a message on my phone the other day from Annie. She had forgotten her homework folder and needed to turn it in that day. She called from the school and said this: "Hi Mom...this is Annie...I forgot to bring my homework folder to school today....I also forgot to DO my homework...so...could you please do my homework and bring it to me at school?" I laughed out loud and still haven't erased the message.

Parade!

Yesterday the "Von Trapp" family marched in a parade! The kids looked so cute in their costumes! Mike didn't have his costume ready yet, but he still looked cute. :-)

I had to add a picture of me as a pregnant nun...on a cell phone...I was totally pushing out my belly in this photo..just for the affect. :-)

A BUSY Saturday!

We had such a great, but tiring day today!

9:00 AM It started off with a photo session. We all needed a picture to go along with our Bio for the playbill. The director of the play is a photographer so we met with him this morning and had our pictures taken. Mike and I were laughing as we tried to come up with a Bio for Ellie. We thought we would put...."You may recognize Ellie from such performances as....The 1st Ward Primary Program..." We think we are funny...."we kill we!"

10-11:30am The next activity was a Dance rehearsal at a local gym. The kids and Mike got to practice a few of their dances in front of mirrors. This is Annie with her cast practicing "The lonely goat herd."

12-4:oopm On to the next, and main event of the day....Casie's birthday party! She had 11 friends come to our home to help celebrate the big 10! As most children who anticipate their birthday, She had REALLY been looking forward to this! Her lists and her plans have been mapped out for the last six months. I seriously remember her coming to me with her "game plan" in December! Some of the items on her list were...BBQ, Swimming, pinata, making fun flip flops, giving everyone sunglasses and gift bags, and playing games....(is this child trying to kill me?) We didn't do everything on her agenda, but we had a great time! It started off with lunch...pizza...yes, boring, but what 10 year old doesn't like pizza? Then we loaded the girls up and took them to Mike's mom's neighborhood pool. They had such a blast! Casie was an adorable and gracious birthday girl. We finished the day by getting slushies and having cake....oh, and opening the SLEW of presents!

5-6:30pm The next activity came about because Casie's cousin Keri stayed after the party to play. I wish I would have taken a picture of the adorable "Spa" they set up on the deck. Casie received lots of cute nail polish and lip gloss for her birthday. She and Keri spent the evening giving Ellie and Annie make-overs. They looked SO cute! If I hadn't been napping on the couch,....I totally would have taken a picture of them. :-)

7-9pm After my power nap, and after Mike found out that his Priest activity was cancelled...(due to lack of priests..) We decided to let Casie and Keri babysit while we went out with some friends. We had a great time at a park playing board games and visiting. We don't usually group date...now that we are married, but decided it was fun enough to do on a regular basis! Because I forgot to bring our camera on our date,...here are some pictures we took while "watching" the kids swim!

10..11..12..1:00am Our last activity of the day is still in the making...I am sitting her blogging amongst the MONSTROUS mess that we call home...(remember all the fun we had today?)...and Mike is taking Keri home. As soon as Mike gets home I will be off to the store to buy some "special" items for a Fathers Day/Birthday breakfast tomorrow. I also need to wrap a few gifts and make a birthday cake...who needs sleep anyway!? Actually...I guess Annie and Juno..(Mom's dog) decided that the day had been busy enough. Isn't this adorable!? :-)

A little spoilded

It started with a VERY messy toy room....If I weren't so desperate to have it cleaned, I wouldn't have resorted to bribery. But if bribery had power over anyone...my five year old Ellie is that person. Because I knew it was a big job, I told her that for every toy she picked up, she would get one M&M. She has a bigger sweet tooth than I do, so she seriously considered my offer. "What if I clean the WHOLE thing"..she asked. "Well, then maybe when we go to the dollar store, you can pick a toy!" "Will I still get the nem-nems?"..."uh...sure"..(at this point I am wondering if I am going a bit over board...after all, it was HER mess...why was I paying her to clean it up?)...BUT...to top it all off, I added, .."And, if you do it all before I get out of the shower, I will put a little make-up on you!"...(at this point I was already in too deep...might as well throw in her last and final obsession.) When Ellie heard me turn the shower off, she called through the bathroom door..."Mom, could you please do your hair and make-up before you come and check on me?"...Of coarse I was happy to oblige...this meant my bribe was working! A few minutes later she came scampering down the hall and announced she was finished. She did a great job! I was so proud. I told her that she earned 37 M&M's (I have no idea how many toys were on the floor, but that sounded like a good amount of candy for all the work done) AND a toy, AND some make-up! Here is a picture of the happy, working, spoiled, princess! Notice the voluptuous eye lashes! :-)

I won't mention that later that day when I asked her to take down a few dishes that were left upstairs, she said,"I will if you give me more nem-nems."

While we had the camera out, I had Ellie take a picture of my blooming body! This is 24 weeks! I have felt SO amazing with this pregnancy..let's hope the 3rd tri-mester goes as smoothly.

Oh so tired...

A Riddle for you....

What do you get when you have play practice three nights a week, and kids to bed at 11:00 three nights a week?

Answer: Very tired children, very tired parents, and a great experience!

We are having a blast with the play. The girls absolutely love it! (thankfully) They are doing such a great job. Half the time, little Annie out sings her whole stage family! I can't believe the projection on that girl! Ellie is loved by all! She totally loves having older "brothers". They swing her around and hold her all the time. It makes me a little sad that she doesn't have one in real life...Mike is becoming quite the actor as well. I can't joke any more about his lack of acting ability. He's great....although, he is having some awkward moments getting "cozy" with Maria on stage. I guess when you have been married to one woman for 12 years,..gazing into another woman's eyes and singing at close proximity doesn't come naturally! (again...thankfully!) They don't have to kiss on stage...(although strangely, I am a bit disappointed...I always hate when the two people in "love" don't kiss. Shows like: My Fair Lady and Pride and Prejudice...(the six hour one) I am not too torn up though. :-) I am having fun doing the props and being a pregnant Nun. We have ONE month until show time...I hope we are ready!

Also...if you would like to know when show times and dates are, leave me a comment with your email and I will send you all the info. I am a bit nervous to post all that info. on my blog. I don't want a coo-coo to show up and steal one of the adorable Von trap children!