October Happenings

Well, I am catching up!
We haven't been up to too much lately. Just hanging out at home, working and playing. What I have been up to: believe it or not (it may not show in the pictures) but I have been getting up at 6:15 AM every morning (Monday-Saturday) to work out on our elliptical machine for 30 minutes religiously for a whole month!!! I haven't lost much weight...due to the fact that I gained a few pounds in California hogging down some amazing food, or maybe it is because I haven't really cut down on the yummy food intake, or maybe I am gaining so much muscle and muscle weighs more than fat (I am going to go with this one!)! Anyway, I am proud of myself! I love working out and cannot wait to see the results, even if they are SLOW!
On another note, I came home from a Young Women activity and Jason was bragging about the pictures that he took of the girls that night. He said they were so CUTE! I didn't remember to look at them that night, but I saw the camera on the counter the next morning and this is what I saw:
Jason's silly shenanigans! There was not one picture of the children, just 3 silly pictures of Jason sporting Tori's "birthday" hat. My husband is so strange!We found this amazing moth sitting in our backyard a couple of weeks ago. Tori thought is was great! Jason caught it and set it on one our fence posts so that it would be safe.
I have been trying new hairstyles on Tori. Here is a twin french braid! She looks like such a big girl lately!
We are trying to broaden Tori's movie horizons! She is really into Elmo, Dora, the Wiggles and the Wonder Pets. We are trying to convince her that feature films are great. So every Sunday we watch a different Disney movie. So far she has liked Lady and the Tramp, Beauty and the Beast (this one is her favorite I think...we also think that Tori has the same color of eyes as Belle...they are not brown, but not quite green...), Snow White, Toy Story 1 & 2 and Finding Nemo. We bought the new Blue Ray/DVD of Beauty and the Beast with a $10 off coupon at Walmart (It is also one of my favorite Disney movies). It turned out to be only $15! We also scored at DI last weekend and bought a whole bunch of Disney VHS tapes for $2. Tori was so excited! I love that she still likes to watch movies with her hands behind her head on the LuvSac. Classic picture with her daddy...oh and there is even one of me!
Brooke is so fun. She is such an easy going baby. Yesterday at church a half a dozen people commented on the blueness of Brooke's eyes. She really does have the most beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen. She is really into trying new foods and loves to eat little nibbles of my food at dinner, especially if she gets to bite my fork. Did you know that there is a new sweet called a Brookie. It is a cross between a chocolate chip cookie and a brownie. I thought that was appropriate (you know...me being the Brownie and Jason being the Chocolate Chip Cookie making the Brookie...do you get it?!). Tori loves to play with Daddy. Jason plays this throwing game with her. I don't know exactly how he throws her 24 pound little body so high, but he does. As you can tell by the smile she LOVES this game. Do you love Brookie's tights on Tori's head? I think that she should start a new fashion. I also think that they kind of look like bunny ears. Silly little Tori!Oh how I love my Young Women!!! I have been slaving (along with the rest of the Young Women presidency and board) for about a month to get Young Women in Excellence finished. I hand made beautiful invitations, programs and bookmarks for each girl and Young Women leader. Our theme: Steadfast in Christ. Our sub theme: warriors in the war against evil. Our inspiration was a picture by Judy Cooley called "Shield of Faith".The girls made shields, helmets and spears. Each girls and leader had to complete a 10 hour project (I organized all of the recipes I have collected out of magazines into 3 fabulous recipe binders: Sweets, Meals and Extras. I really love them! I will take pictures of them sometime) and the girls are just so amazing. The cooky one in the left corner is Ursula Tingey... she is the YW president. I adore her. She truly is extraordinary. I love being her secretary, aka "Brain", it is a challenging calling...and I love being challenged! Do you love our attempt at getting a cute photo of me and the girls?!
Tori is really into dancing lately. I tried to upload a video of the girls dancing, but it was a no go. She is dancing in her BYU cheer-leading outfit. She gets it on and says "Go Cougars!" It is quite adorable. This may be her Halloween costume (minus the ballerina footy pajamas).
Brooke = Beautiful! Brooke just keeps getting bigger and bigger. She is going to be 1 soon! I cannot believe how time flies....
which brings me to the point that we didn't have a picture of our sweet Brookie in our house until just a few days ago when I made this out of a regular black frame with a white mat (matte?). Tori's was a ready-made matte that I put into a black frame, so I copied the idea and made it my own. I also spiced up Spencer's too. I think they turned out fabulous and they look great on our mantle! As I was doing this project I also realized that I had 3 kids in 3 years! Boy was I nuts! :) Here's to a pregnancy free 2010!

Grandma and Grandpa Dinger Visit (Sep. 28th- 30th)

I know...I just cannot seem to catch up! But here are some pictures from G&G Dinger coming to visit at the end of September. They called up that Monday to tell us that they were going to Ohio and wanted to stop by on their way...ummm....Ohio is the other way (East, that is!). But they needed to get their fill of some little munchkins and so they came to play Tuesday afternoon. Boy was Tori excited! She ran out to the car to meet them. She usually takes a while to warm up, but apparently that went out the window with this visit. She climbed right up on Grandma's lap while she was still in the car!
We had a lazy ol' time together. Brooke cozied up with Grandma and she read them both some books. They love a good story and Grandma Gwen is so cozy!On Wednesday we had a full day of excitement that started with using Grandma Gwen's spray gel so that you could really see Brookie's curls! She has a curly top. I guess that a little spray gel goes a long way...she was a little crunchy!Then off to the park we went. Brookie loves a good swing! Do you see her dimple! LOVE it!Watch out world! I caught Tori smiling! That's right...I caught her in the act of playing peek-a-boo with Grandpa...which means a grin!Brookie tried out the big girl slide (Tori is still frightened). It was a little shaky, but she smiled big, so maybe she liked it! She is trying to clap now a days and I caught her in the act!Lo and behold is that a HUGE grin?! I believe it is! Once again playing peek-a-boo. I need to remember this trick!Later on that afternoon we went to go see the "ANINALS"! She was really excited to watch the fish and then see all of the stuffed wildlife. I love the picture of Brooke looking up at the ceiling. There was a big vulture at the top of the ceiling there and apparently she thought it was really cool. Tori was not in a smiling mood when we took the last picture with her and Grandpa...she just found out that we had to leave the animals and there was a HUGE tantrum on the way home. She cried, "Aninals...aninals...(sniff, sniff)". It was so sad.The next day Tori got an idea...if I steal Grandma's shoes and socks then she can't leave! It was hilarious to watch her walk around in Grandma's shoes and socks! She thought she was pretty "punny" as she says. "I so punny!" Good things always have to come to an end, but it wasn't too bad, because we will see them Halloween! Just a few extras. That night the girls were being extra silly in bed and these are the results! So fun! Check out Tori's hair style! I have been trying to branch out! She has had many a new style lately: french braids, fish tails, and connected pony tails to name a few.
HATS...they are still all the rage. This one used to be navy blue, but got sun bleached. Playing peek-a-boo again! Gotta love it! Gotta love these girls!

Happy Birthday Little Sister!

Oh my goodness, making this video took a lot of work, but it is worth it! I hope you love it Lora! I tried to put it to music (I even bought the "Sisters" song online for a whopping $.69) but there was something wrong with publishing the video with the music, so, sorry, it's not put to music. I included some of the lyrics on the slides. Well...and it turns out that the video won't even upload, so instead you get this slide show!
Do you not love all of these old school pictures? I copied them on my parents scanner a long time ago, cut them and then individually scanned them on my computer. Plus I had to get some of the pictures out of scrapbooks and such. It was fun, but I had to ignore my children for 3 mornings while Tori watched Sesame Street and Brookie napped (well, Brookie was napping, so I guess I wasn't really ignoring her!). I am ignoring them right now though to post this! I really hope the video downloads faster! :) So much for that video...you will have to come and watch it at my house some time!
Amazing things about Lora:
-She is so artistic & creative. I really wish that I had some pictures of her art...she is talented. I don't know how many hobbies that I picked up trying to copy Lora's amazing abilities.
-Although she doesn't think so she is very patient, loving and long suffering. She is an amazing mom and I want to be like her when I grow up.
-She makes the best chocolate chip cookies in the universe and makes a magnificent chocolate bundt.
-Lora is amazingly supportive and listens to my woes. I love the way she got me through some tough times growing up and her advice is worth at least 8 million dollars!
-Lora is a peacemaker. I know that there was a fair share of crying, scratching and yelling when we were younger, but it never lasted more than 30 seconds without an "I'm sorry". We can't stay mad at each other. I was the little beast (usually the author of the mayhem), but Lora taught me that it isn't worth staying mad, because it is more fun to be happy and to laugh it off.
-Lora is basically the only one that can make me laugh so hard that I cannot control my bodily functions and get so read in the face because I can't breath that I am afraid that I might faint. She is hilarious.
-She is so fun to be with. I love that we can hang out for hours, talk on the phone practically everyday and not get too tired of each other!
I want to be just like her when I grow up! I know that that is what the younger sister is supposed to say, but I have looked up to her even before she grew taller than me!
I am sure I could go on and on, but this post has taken me two hours (I had to make the slide show and then the stupid computer froze...really!?) and Brooke is now awake! So I must go!
Anyway, Happy 31st Birthday little sister! I really cannot remember my life without you.
I remember the nights snuggled in our trundle bed and we would dream about going to college together, meeting and marrying twins, and living next door to each other. Well, at least we roomed together at BYU! As for the others, I am glad that we married Jake and Jason instead (at least they like each other and can get along!) and I am sure that one day we will live next to each other!
You are my best friend and I am really glad that we were both born into the Birch clan. I miss you and I hope you have a fabulous birthday. Love from you sister!

What's up?

That is one of Tori's new phrases. She is catching on to this talking thing with vengeance. It is quite fun to hear all of her new words and what is going on in her little head. These pictures are a little old. They are from about 3 weeks ago. I know. I need to catch up, but I have been working on a little surprise for my sister's birthday and so I have been a little busy, but not to worry. I promise to catch up soon. These pictures were taken when both little munchkins had a cold. Don't look too closely or you might see buggers wiped across face, on clothes, and perhaps on me! I cannot wait until all of my kids know how to blow their own noses! At least they let me blow their noses without too much fuss (thank heavens for tissues with lotion...I recommend these to all parents!).
Tori and Brooke got a package from Grandma Frann. She sent them stickers to go on the window for Halloween, owls (notice that Tori is showing the owls her stickers), and stuff to make Halloween cookies. (I wish I knew where I hid the sprinkles that she sent...it is in one of those good for nothing spots that you think that you will remember where you hid them for safe keeping and yet you cannot find them anywhere in the house!) Thanks Grandma Frann!
Tori is also loving the Leogs that she inherited from Oscar. She can now build some massive towers where she needs to stand on the table to finish.

Ode to the sombrero. Here are some fun pictures of Brookie. She is in the middle of her cold in these photos and she looks all clouded over, but they still are so cute!
Playing outside. what would playing out in the yard be without the quick hug from a tree?! Tori loves to play outside and has been enjoying the warm weather. (Although it has become Fall here in the last couple of days...rain, leaves turning colors, long sleeve shirts... I LOVE FALL!). Her new found passion is digging. We really need to put sand in her sand box (also inherited from the Olesens), but I just don't think the sand will last all winter and I think I will hold off on that until the Spring. Until then she digs in this rocky area by our dog run. Isn't she adorable?! She was told the other day that she looks like the Olsen twins (Mary Kate & Ashley) when they were younger...we've gotten that a few times. At least they were cute when they were younger...I hope she doesn't look like them in the future...they turned out weird!
This was an especially sick day for Brooke, but I wanted to take her out to get some fresh air. So she explored the grass, went down the slide, and was extremely smiley in the swing. I need to take a lesson from her when I am sick. She was never the least bit grumpy!
Do you see how BEAUTIFUL Brooke is? Do you see her curlies! I think that she may have inherited some curly hair! And look at those shockingly blue eyes and blaring white skin...I am glad she looks like Jason, because otherwise I don't know who she belongs to! Her two upper teeth are coming in too! The Park! We found a new park. It is Storey Park. I love it because in the heat of the day all of the trees in the park shade the Big Toy and all of the swings! Tori isn't getting much braver with the Big Toy yet. I think that she may be a little scared of height or something (at least outside anyway...she doesn't seem at all afraid when she is climbing couches or tables!). But that is all there is to this entry...I cannot believe I have had this much Magic Time (the time when both girls are down for a nap at the same time)...oh wait...I hear little voices. Time is up! I am outta here!