Over the River and Through the Woods....

It had been awhile since our little family had made it down to Grandma and Grandpa Great's house in Logan, Utah. We decided to pile into the Givens van and head down to pay a visit. We left at 6:30 am and spent the whole day catching up with family. We wore Grandpa and Grandma out and decided to switch our plans. The original plan consisted of us staying over night, but we decided to pack up and head back to Boise. Thanks for the great day Hansen Family.

Before we even left the driveway to go home, we had 2 of the 3 passengers sleeping. They slept the whole 5 hour trip back to Boise. Thanks Missy and Aunt Madeline for entertaining and wearing out the kids. What a day! We hope to be back soon.

Western Idaho Fair

One of Allie's friends was telling her about the Western Idaho Fair and how she got bit by one of the goats in the petting area. For some reason this sounded fun to Allie and she asked if we could go to the fair. I jumped on this idea because I grew up going to the fair every year. Blake is not so much a fan of the fair; so we rounded up some friends and headed off in the morning to beat the heat. I just love how I get to experience everything that I did as a kid with my own kid. We had a great time!

In the petting area the kids got to brush one of the cows. There was some great hands on experience (sorry for the weird picture; my camera got put on some weird setting)

Petting the sheep. The sheep were one of my favorites of the day-they don't seem to be aggressive like the goats

All of the kids checking out the chickens

Allie just doesn't have any fear. I caught her in the act of sucking on this goats' face, giving it kisses I guess

Little Brynn found some wee little animals just her size to pet

One of the ladies had her sheep out of the pen. She was taking him up to be judged and stopped to let the kids pet it

Part of the bargain was that we could choose two rides to go on at the fair. Unfortunately there weren't a lot that the kids could ride by themselves. They were just a hair to short to go on most of the rides parentless. This nice guy let them ride the roller coaster anyways; even though they fell short. Cam jumped ship before the ride even began, Owen made it almost to the end and then lost it, and Allie just kept looking over the edge smiling at me as she would pass by. I think I have a partner in crime for the big rides one day.

The final ride was the airplane. I actually ended up hoping on the back with Brynn and we moved Allie to the front with Owen. Another nice "carny" worker wanted the adults to supervise the kids but didn't make us give him tickets to ride; good thing because I was out.

Cam and Aunt Katie enjoying the view up in the air. They were riding a few airplanes behind us

To wrap up the day, we topped the afternoon off with a refreshing sno-cone. What a great day at the Western Idaho Fair. I can't wait until Allie gets a little bigger and we can have some fun on the big rides.

#3 Princess Birthday Pary

I can't believe that our little baby is 3 years old. Time sure flies, and we have had so much fun with this girl. I don't know how we have been blessed to have such a great kid. Allie is so much fun! She has got the best little personality and is always making us laugh. She is the best little helper; she's always running trash out for me, setting the table, unloading the utensils from the dishwasher, out in the garden picking veggies, and I could keep on rattling the things this girl helps me out with. She is just a little worker and I sure appreciate it. She has a love for learning and I hope that it stays with her throughout her life. She is a little sponge and soaks it all up. We love you and are glad you are our little princess.

Happy #3 Princess Allie

Allie has been dying to have a princess birthday party. She asked for one last year but it was to late because I had already bought party stuff for an Elmo themed party. Allie has been asking me ever since she was 2 when her princess birthday party was going to be here. It's here girl, and we had everyone over to celebrate

The good old $1 store had a cute utensil caddy that we used as part of our princess decor

We bought $1 gems and stuck them onto some cups for the princess and her guests to have fancy dining dishes

Cupcakes with cute princess crown, castle, and wand toppers for the little ones

We had Allie's aunts, cousins, and a few friends over to celebrate this special day with us

I had some mirrors for the kids to decorate with jewels, and we played kiss the frog; but there attention didn't last long. Everyone was to excited about catching slugs in my yard. Thanks for getting rid of them for us kids

The princess castle cake. To fulfill the request of the birthday girl, we used strawberry icescream to fill the cake and frosted it pink

Blowing out the candles

One happy girl on her new princess scooter

Hanging with mom and dad saying farewell to the guests. Thanks for coming everybody!

Birthday Suvey

A Few of My Favorite Things

Food: Mac and Cheese

Dessert: Making Popcorn on the stove with Dad

Color: Bring on PINK

Movie: Strawberry Shortcake

Cartoon: Super Why

Activity in Spare Time: Playing Lego's, Kitchen, Puzzles, Babies, and Dress Up

My Best Friend: Max, my new kitty

Toy: Any Baby

Primary Song: I love to See the Temple

When I grow up I want to be a: A Doctor

For my birthday I got: A Princess Scooter

I had a PRINCESS Birthday Party

Things Allie Loves and Hates

Things Allie Loves

1. Her MIMI. Yes, Allie is 3 and she still calls her milk, Mimi. As many times as we try and get her to call it her milk, the name Mimi has just stuck at our house. Yes, she is still addicted too her mimi as well, it is her comfort.

2. Swinging...Allie could live in a swing. When we go to a park Allie just loves to be pushed in a swing and could be in the swing the whole time if I let her.

3. Walking out in the garden and picking peas. She just eats the whole thing, pod and pea. She just loves vegetables period. She will eat raw potatoes, the whole apple (core and all)...I don't know what it is about this girl, but she just loves them. I have tried multiple times to prevent her from attempting to eat things that normal people don't, but she puts up a fight.

4. Letters-Allie has been obsessed with letters since she was little. She used to continually play the Leap Frog ABC magnets on the fridge while I would be getting dinner ready. Now, she loves Super Why and the words they make with the letters. She is obsessed with learning her letters and recently wrote her name; she even got the two L's.

5. Dressing Up in her Princess dresses. Allie has about 4 princess dresses and she is in one of them about every day. She really started to get into the whole princess thing around the beginning of the summer and it just keeps getting worse. We haven't had the tantrum where she has wanted to go to the store in the outfit; I am sure that is coming

Things Allie Hates

1. Blankets on her at night. If you put them on she will quickly fight you. If she is in our bed and she is sleeping, I love to test her. I pull the covers back over her and pull them tight on the sides. She will just kick and move and slither until her feet are out in the open.

2. Change. Just like her mommy and most woman I know; Allie hates change. The other day Blake went to move her kitchen to a new spot and Allie flopped herself on the floor and started crying and kicking, "That's where my kitchen lives....I want it back there!" Yep, she threw a big fit and wanted her kitchen back in the original spot.

Favorite Phrases

1. "Quick It Up Daddy"- June 09'. Allie told this to Blake when we were driving in the car on the way home from Lake Powell. She wanted him to go faster and couldn't remember the phrase, "speed up".

2. "I want a flute beer"-June 09'. Allie kept saying this over and over in the car after we had made a stop at Wendy's and got some lunch which included a frosty. I was so confused about what Allie wanted. Finally I held up my frosty and she says, "yes a flute beer." I then informed little miss it was called a frosty.

3. "Mom, where's Blake Hansen?"-June 09'. We were all riding in the car, Blake, Allie, and I. Allie seriously asked me this question and when I said, "what?" and turned to the back seat to look at her, she just busted up laughing. She is such a crack up.

4. "I know where all the treats are!" -August 09'. Papa Jim was over watching Allie and he found her at one point on top the counter eating M&M's from on top the fridge. A little while later he found her with a wad of gum in her mouth. When questioned where she got the gum, she promptly brought Papa to the secret stash, and proceeded with her phrase. I guess I better find a new treat drawer.

Eagle Island

We headed off to Eagle Island State Park for a day in the sun and sand with the Givens. Walking into the park brought back a nostalgia for my childhood days. I haven't been back to this park in years and I have many fond memories from my younger days. I am so glad that I am able to return and experience these fun things with Allie. We had a fun day playing on the beach and in the water, despite the water slide being closed. We will have to return to try out the water slide next summer.

Allie and Cam out on the tube

Brynn had a great time too :) She was in a bathing suit until she had to get de-sanded before leaving the park

Later in the afternoon, we came home and made cupcakes. Can you tell that Allie is enjoying the "taste-testing" part of the process

We made some yummy jumbo cupcakes for a ward party. Allie was dying to taste one of them. I wouldn't let her taste one because I had to bring an exact amount for a cupcake walk. Luckily Allie won a cupcake at the party and chose one of our jumbo cupcakes. We decided that they were delicious!

Putting Together the Letters

Well today we were outside playing with chalk and Allie told me to come look at her name. She was very proud that she wrote the letters in her name in the correct order. This was the first time Allie was able to write her name in the right sequence. Way to go girl!

Very proud girl with her faintly colored name written on the sidewalk. My favorite part about Allie writing her name is the way she draws her "E". Instead of just the 3 lines branching off, Allie just keeps drawing lines until there are around 6

We traced over the faintly colored name and I wanted Allie to pose one more time. This is the reaction that I got when I told her to smile-Poop on You!

Mowing the Lawn In Style

Anyone need there child to fall asleep by 10 am. I have the perfect solution: pack them up in the "wee-ride" as Allie likes to call it and head out to mow the lawn. The white noise from the lawn mower and movement quickly puts Allie right to sleep every time.

The wee-ride tradition started at the beginning of the summer when Blake had to travel for work, he didn't get the lawn mowed before leaving, and it was driving me nuts so I set out to accomplish the task. For some reason Allie was chasing me around the yard screaming and crying while I was mowing . I quickly had the idea to throw her in our hiking back pack and she promptly fell asleep. It has been her tradition to ride with whomever is mowing the lawn ever since. We set out early this morning and she got in a good 1 1/2 nap while I got in a good little work out.

Princess Tantrum

Can you believe this cute little princess threw a BIG Tantrum today. Blake and I were doing some cleaning around the house and he was attempting to rearrange a few things. I have always had a hard time with change and have gotten much better over the years at adapting to change ( I still have lots of improving to do, don't get me wrong). I feel like I have done this great job with things around the house and then my wonderful husband tries to tell me I haven't done a good enough job (he doesn't tell me that, it's just how I feel) and there is a better way to do it; which comes across to me is his way (I have learned this isn't his way at all-he just likes to look at all his options). I have learned to let him try and I have learned that sometimes things actually work out better, but if not, we just move them back how they were.

Well we had ventured into my craft room and started to rearrange and reorganize some things. Blake went to move Allie's play kitchen to a new spot in the room. This poor little Miss hit the floor face first and started kicking her feet and screaming. We here her yell, "that's where my kitchen lives, I want it back there." Well Blake learned his lesson from a 2 year old; girls in his house don't deal with change very well. I guess we need to switch things up more often so we can all learn to adapt better.

Questions have begun???

Allie and I were driving in the car today when she started to rattle off questions I never thought she would be processing. The first few were about animals

1st question- Allie: Why do birds have wings?

Me: So they can fly and get places really fast

2nd question- Allie: Why do dinosaurs have big tall legs?

Me: Because Jesus just wanted them to be big and tall, so he gave them big long legs

Then we switched gears and I get

Allie: Mommy why did Jesus make the earth?

Me: So we could come to earth, get our bodies and live with our families

Then if my answer didn't make her think hard enough she then asks

Allie: Mommy, why did we come to the earth?

Me: So we could laugh, have fun, cry, be with our family, and make it back to Jesus

Oh Allie....how I love you. You are always keeping me on my toes with everything you do and say

Allie wrote her name

Allie walked into my bedroom and told me to come look at her name that she wrote. I was thinking that it would be "chicken scratch" since that is usually what she writes for her letters. I was shocked to see her name with all the write letters, in a mixed up order. Thanks to the IPhone Allie is learning to write her letters. I didn't think anything had quite sunk in yet, but I guessed wrong. I am thinking I should spend some one on one time with her instead of the phone; but I guess if she's entertained by it, we'll run with it for awhile.

Albies High!

It's been awhile since I have hit a great Albertson's run that gives me that coupon headache in the store followed by the "high" as I walk out and get home to realize how good I did

Here's what I rounded up:

12 cartons of swabs

10 boxes of cereal

8 All Detergent

8 Boxes of Kleenex

4 Cake Mixes

4 Fiber One Packs

4 Ragu Sauce

4 Deodorant

4 packs of Fruit Snacks

3 Suave Kids Detangler/Shampoo

2 Packs Tortillas

1 single string cheese (eaten at the check out)

1 pack of gum (in my purse)

DRUM ROLL PLEASE.........

So I saved $194.73 on my grocery's seen above

I paid $29.32

Plus I have $23 in Catalina's to spend and $6 in survey money that I earned once I take my surveys on the phone. My total minus all these Catalina's would equal a whopping total of

$0.32

Pretty good I might be back for some more fun tomorrow!