My Girls

So the last few years I have been coaching high school girls basketball and this year it seemed to really consume me. I am the JV coach and I love it. I had some great girls but we had a lot of work to do. Unfortunatley my girls got to this high school level without being taught a lot of the basic fundamentals.....I worked them over and was constantly pushing them and they improved and really became disciplined. One of my highlights was when we came back from a thirty point deficit at half time to barley loose by two too South Fremont. Although it is crappy pay and stressful.... I love my job.
My little team. We started with eight but mid way through the season my starting point guard was moved to varsity so.....my team adapted and we made it through with seven girls.....some games we only had five due to sickness and foul trouble.
My biggest fans. Matt and the girls were at almost all of are games cheering us on. Matt is so supportive during the season and puts up with a lot. The late nights discussing the games or how to improve my team.....driving to all the games....packing the girls around....dealing with my stress....he was a champ through it all. Matt was such a big support in so many ways....he always had my back especially when we were stuck with crappy refs. Even from the top of the bleachers i could hear him cussing out the refs.
My girls decked out in their Teton gear. Win or loose Avery always said "Mommy you did great I am so proud of you." Ahhh pretty cute.
So this picture is to document me actually sitting in my seat. I usually stand most of the game and pace....and yell....:)

Our little Family

One of my favorite times of the day is... well when my kids are asleep. I know that sounds bad but I love just having a litttle peace and quiet. Latley Matt has been working like crazy....we rarley see him and when he comes home he eats and sleeps. The other day I asked him to hold Hailey while I get a few things done...and this is what I found.....
I love my childrens faces when they sleep...all cute and innocent.....even though moments before they were screaming and getting into things...or leaving me little presents in the bathtub. Ya Hailey just did that to me the other day....It was the first time I had to clean a nasty out of the bathtub....I didn't handle it very well. I almost puked.
Hailey loves her baby dolls which is really cute....what is not so cute is when she tries to poke out their eyes....oh well I am sure that is normal....Right?
Having winter for 5-6 months out of the year can be very depressing....especially when my kids keep getting sick. So we have to mix things up and find fun things we can do in the house...because going out and playing in a blizzard is not an option. So we occasionally build tents and of course watch lots of movies.
Avery's kitty is a hit with the girls. Hailey loves it and goes crazy when she sees him. Avery has changed the cats name about 20 times but I think we are finally settled on rascal. By the way this cat is not tame and it scares me when the girls want to pet it. But it still climbs on to our roof...and the other day I was trying to get Hailey to eat her lunch, but she was so distracted. She kept laughing and pointing at the ceiling. It took me awhile to realize the cat was looking down at us through the sky light. Our very own peeping tom:)

Update on the girls

What is it like having two girls you may ask..........uhmmm lots of screaming. Avery loves being a big sister and although she may seem cute and girly....she loves to wrestle....and Hailey just happens to be the perfect victim. She loves to torment her.....and although Hailey is learning to stand up for herself I just want a day without.....screaming.
Avery modeling one of her Christmas outfit. She loves having her picture taken....especially if we are taking pictures of Hailey.

More wrestling = more screaming.
Ohh our little Hailey....she is almost 17 months old and a very unique child. She loves to cuddle and when Avery is not messing with her she rarely makes a peep. When she is not sick or teething (she is getting eight teeth in right now...not fun) she wanders around the house or plays with toys. When she doesn't feel good she is a monster and wants to be held every second. She is also a picky eater and wont eat anything but noodles, rice or treats.

Hailey loves to watch people and observe. She has been that way since she was born and she knows just what faces to make or things to do to get you to laugh. She is very tender hearted and when I tell her "no" she gets very upset. I think she will easier to discipline then Avery though. :)

Halloween and Hailey's Birthday

So my baby turned one on the 22nd.....and we had a big combined birthday party with her cousin Morgan. We invited the family to all come for a fun little Halloween party. There were games...spooky food and funny costumes. The picture above is Hailey in her Red Queen Halloween costume. She had her first real experience with trick or treating. Her wig took the longest time to make.....it did not help that she kept pulling out the red yarn, leaving bald spots:)
Now you may be wondering .....where are the pictures of Avery in her Halloween costume.....well there are none because she decided not to go this year. So....here is what I have learned.......I love Halloween...probably more then my 4 year old and I think I might make it a bigger deal then it should be. The next thing I learned is not to make her costumes. I made her an Alice costume and it took forever...because I had to re-draw the pattern so that it would fit her. She did not want to be Alice and refused to wear it.

Halloween night we got her all dressed up and then when we went to do her hair.......she turned into the exorcist and started screaming and pulling on her hair. So we allowed her to change back into her clothes and stay home with the grandparents to help pass out candy. She was perfectly fine with that option. I on the other hand was livid. What kid does not want to go trick or treating.....dress up in a silly costume and get lots of candy....it just does not make sense. I am seriously wondering if I need to put her in therapy....just kidding....although it does cross my mind....every time she throws a tantrum.
These were all the cuties that attended the birthday party. Matt's aunt Ginni has the best costumes for her kids....they are a riot.
Morgan and Hailey by there cake. Morgan was the cutest little bumble bee and she went around the whole night pretending to sting people.
This was the birthday cake I made. It was kind of an experiment and I wanted to do more with the fondant I had made...but ran out of time. Although it did not turn out how I wanted the cake and icing tasted really good. I found some really yummy recipes.....I think I have a little crush on moist chocolate cake.....it is hard for me to resist.

Our Halloween costumes this year were from Alice in Wonderland. Hailey was the red queen and Avery was Alice.
Hailey and Morgan opening presents.......unfortunately for Hailey any of her new toys were quickly claimed by Avery.....so she was left with just the new clothes.

This was the only picture I could get of Avery in her costume. She decided she did not like her costume and refused to wear it. What a party pooper!

Tetonia Centennial

For our town cenntenial celebration we had a parade and a picnic. While I helped Matt with his city council duties....Avery took advantage of playing with all the local kids. She loves the swings.....
This is about the age where a little crack is still cute......apparently it is not cute when your older because whenever my pants slip.....Avery says "oh gross mom I can see your bum crack." ......and then she giggles ....

Uhm sassy?

So the highlight of the celebration was the pie contest. Matt was worried that no one had entered so I threw one together that morning. After the pies were judged the winning pies were taken up front to be auctioned off. My poor pie just sat there...left abandoned on the table with a few other "loser" pies. I tried not to let it bother me...but this was the first time my food was being judged. So I went up and grabbed my pie and sat down ...alone on a bench.....wondering where I went wrong. So I taste tested it and it tasted good to me....the others pies must have been awesome....so i watched the winners go up and get there big ribbons. Then it came to the grand champion pie and they could not find it. Matt came and grabbed my pie....after I had just stuck my finger in it to taste it and they announced my pie as the grand champion. It was kind of nerdy but I was totally excited....I tried to play it cool when they presented me with my big ribbon and my hundred dollar prize...but I was pretty pleased. The judged even told me that after they tried it they had to sneak a second piece. Then it got auctioned off for 50 dollars.....I just did not tell the buyer that I had stuck my finger in the pie....I didn't want to ruin the moment:)

Tetonia Centenial

Cannibal baby....
The baby was ditched in order to hoard the candy.
And the award for the most redneck float goes to....."Dave's Pub".......our local bar
It was a fun little parade..... in a 100 years the town population has expanded to a whopping..... 250.

First Day of Preschool

First we had this kitten show up at our house and the girls just fell in love. Avery held it like a baby and Hailey got so excited when it came around.
The cat did not last long...it had a habit of riding in cars....we think it took a ride with someone.
We went and got Avery's school supplies and it was really so much fun to see how excited she got. We found a plain backpack and jazzed it up a little....she loves her backpack.
First day of school.
She needed a painting smock for school so we whipped up this one....complete with pockets and a girly ruffle.

Summer Fun

So now that summer is over I am just finally getting around to posting pictures....so this is just a little recap of what we did over the summer. I tried my hand at making clothes for the girls and lots of little baby clothes for my friends that were having babies.
We visited the cousins in Utah.
Matt played softball again and even did an overnight tournament at Bear Lake....they played all through the night and we just camped out above the field...it was a lot of fun.
Erickson Family Reunion. We went over to Boise and played at the water park. Then Matt took me out for my birthday and it was a lot of fun.
Avery loved the water park and playing with all her cousins.....unfortunately we all got burned from being in the sun all day...but it was worth it.

Playing in our little pool at grandmas house.
nelson Family Reunion over the 4th of July
Trips to the Splash Park in Rexburg.
Jumping on the trampoline at grandmas house.

Akward Converstations with a 4 year old

This morning Avery asked me a question that really caught me off guard......Sometimes it is hard to know when to be honest and direct or bend the truth a little...like when giving the birds and the bees explanation.

So Hailey was screaming and Avery asks.......
"Mom why don't you just lift up your shirt and let her eat you."

Me- "Uhmm you mean breastfeeding?" "Well she does not eat that way anymore."

Avery- "Why not"

Me- "Well because she eats out of a bottle plus I don't have any milk for her anymore."

Avery- "Why....where did it go....your butt?"

Me- "Uhh no...my body just doesn't make it anymore."

Avery- "Will your boobies go away too."

Me- "No hopefully I will always have them."

Avery- I hope I never get boobies.....and if I do I just will wear a big apron over them."

Me- Well you are a girl so you will get them when you are older

Avery- under her breath she says.......gross.

I guess sometimes I just don't realize she notices these things....and thinks about them....I just hope she does not offer all this information to her friends and teachers at preschool. I don't want her to go around and tell all her friends that they are going to have boobies when they get older.

Hailey

I can't believe how much Hailey has grown. She is almost 9 months now and it went by so fast I forget what it was like to have her as a new born:(
She is really a funny girl and I am trying to decide what her personality will be like. At times she is pretty mellow and just observes and then when you least expect it she will make a funny face that gets makes a laugh. Then she can also be a little temperamental....usually when she is tired and wants her mom...she is a little bit of a mommas girl...which I kind of like:) She is al ittle picky with some things....no binkis, no bottles, and she will let you know if she doesn't like what she is eating....usually cold baby cereal....she hates it plain...so I have to put fruit in it.

This is one of my favorite faces that she does...she crinkles up her nose and then sucks air in and out of it really fast to make funny breathing noises.

Just a little fathers day treat

So I saw these adorable cupcakes online and I knew I had to try them out. They are supposed to look like hamburgers with a side of fries. So I made a big batch to give to the Matt and Ron as well as the the fathers of the young women that I teach for fathers day.
I gave all my girls these little containers with a side of fries and put it in a lunch bag that said happy fathers day. I think they enjoyed it.
Not to worry there is no meat in these babies...just a yummy brownie and frosting....and the fries are just sugar cookies. They did not turn out as beautiful as the originals I saw on line but they were still pretty fun to make and yummy to eat.