Happy Birthday Troy!

This is Troy trying to pose like Nacho Libre. He thought he was being really funny. He tries!

Today Troy turned 37. When did we get so old? I remember when I was a teenager, I thought that the 30's were old. Well here we are. I wanted to write the 10 things that I love most about Troy.

10. He know how to use tools.
9. He irons the clothes.
8. He loves the outdoors (camping, hiking)
7. Is a great cook.
6. He listens to my fashion advise.
5. Extremely good looking.
4. Laughs at his own jokes.
3. Is the best dad the our kids.
2. Is a fabulous husband.
1. He thinks I am beautiful.

Over all he is a pretty incredible guy. I got really lucky when I snagged him for myself. Happy Birthday Honey.

Doin' Da Doggie Dance

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Dancing with Mom & Dad

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Dunow Kids Do A Dance

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What we did for Thanksgiving.

Can you believe that it has already been Thanksgiving? Time goes to fast! This year we had our Thanksgiving dinner a couple weeks early because Mom and Dad were down from Utah. We had all the traditional food and it was yummy.
I spent Thanksgiving afternoon with just Olivia. Troy, Logan, Anna, Ella and Soren went down to the Rio Rancho Police department and helped serve Thanksgiving dinner to the on duty police officers. One of the boys in Logan's scout troop made this his Eagle project. The kids had a lot of fun visiting with the police officers while they ate, and you know my kids can talk! Soren asked on if he could see his tazer gun. One policeman took the kids to go see his car and turn on the lights. When Soren got home, he was bouncing off the walls with excitement.
They all had a dinner at the police station so I did not have to cook for anyone that night. Love that. Troy took me out to see the movie Australia when he got home. It was a wonderful movie. It was nice just to spend the day relaxing and just watching the kids play. I was proud of the kids and Troy for volunteering the time to the police.
I thought a lot on Thanksgiving day of everything that I was grateful for. I am very blessed to have such a loving and incredible husband. My kids are my life. What would I do if I didn't have them. No, don't answer that. They are sometimes naughty, but I love them anyway. My parents, who love me unconditionally. They have always been an example to me. For Troy's parents, for raising such an amazing guy for me to marry and have babies with. I am thankful for all of our family for there support. I could go on and on about what I am thankful for. Let's just say that I am one lucky Mamma.

Olivia's birthday pictures

I know her birthday was on the 20th, but I am just getting around to posting her photos. Olivia had not been feeling well so we did not do a party for her. We didn't want her to catch anything else. One of our good friends Mary came over for dinner and had brownies with us. Olivia thought she was pretty special that Mary came and had dinner with her. It was an enjoyable evening.

Did you know that bread dough grows?

I found that out the hard way. I am sitting here at the computer at10:30 at night waiting for some cinnamon rolls to raise so I can bake them. Soren is suppose to bring in a family bread to school tomorrow to share. So needless to say, I waited to the last minute to do it.

OK , here is my horror story about bread making. Last week Troy volunteered to bring in rolls to his office holiday lunch. Last time Mom was here she made this really yummy sweet bread rolls so we decided to use her recipe. I was worried that we would not have enough rolls, so we decided to double the recipe that Mom had written down for us. Half way through making the dough Troy commented that Mom had halved the recipe when she made it here. OK, I had to use two bowls, and almost 4 bags of flour. Some where along the way it totally spiralled out of control. My arms are still sore from kneading that dough. In the end we ended up making like some 90 rolls, a couple of dozen cinnamon rolls, several loaves of bread and who knows what else. There was so much bread dough we had to put it in gallon sized zip lock bags in the fridge. The next morning when Troy opened up the fridge, the bags had exploded all over because the dough expanded so much. I felt like I was in some horror movie.
This time I made dough using the bread machine. I was not about to take the chance of being swallowed up by ever growing bread dough!

Christmas Decorating

I know it is a little early for decorating for Christmas, but I just could not help myself. Last year I did not get to celebrate the holidays that much because Olivia was very sick. I literally spent Christmas day in the Christmas Eve and Day in the Hospital with her. Thankfully this year she is doing much better, and I want my family to enjoy the season. On Friday we will put up the tree.

Miss Muffet Turns 3!

Olivia at almost 3. This was at Halloween.

Olivaia at 2.

Olivia at 1.

Olivia at one month.

Happy, Happy, birthday Olivia dear. Happy days will come to you all year. If I had a wish, then it would be, a happy, happy birthday to you from me. Our little baby turned 3 today and I can hardly believe it. Troy brought her presents to her in bed this morning and we all sang to her. She thinks this birthday stuff is pretty neat. I asked her if she was going to start going potty on the toilet because she is a big girl now and she said "NO". Well, that just about sums it up. She does what she wants, when she wants. We love her so much I don't know what I would do with out her. Troy and I were not planning on having her when we did. Heavenly Father definitely had other plans for us. He knew our family needed her right away. Olivia has had a lot of health problems, but I know that she is getting better and that Heavenly Father has blessed her so much.
One of the funniest things she does now is stands in front of the TV and sings to us. One word "DIVA". She sings Little Miss Muffet, My kitty has gone form her basket and Way up high in the cherry tree. When Grandma Fowler was here last time, she taught Olivia the last two songs. If I try to sing with her she puts a hand across my mouth. I knew I did not sing very well, but when a 3 year old does not want you to sing, then you know you are bad!
Olivia is also into her hitting stage. The other night she was hitting Soren and I scolded her and told her not to hit. She reached over and pinched Soren and said " I not hit, me pinch." We were all laughing so hard that I could not scold her again.
We all love her so much. Happy Birthday Miss Muffet!

My Crazy Morning.

This morning has been kind of crazy for me. I am totally sleep derived due to Little Miss Muffet. She has got a really bad cold, her tonsills are swollen and she is coughing. With her swallowing problems this poses big problems for her. She is up most the night choking on mucus. I know that sounds yucky. We fought her to keep on her Oxygen last night to help her breath, she fought us tooth and nail-literally. I have the marks to prove it. So needless to say we did not have a good night.
If any of you know how Soren talks, you will understand how it is very LOUD. This morning during breakfast he would not stop talking. This was some of the things he said to us.
Dad, do like plankton?
Do you eat it on your cereal?
Look this is Africa.
What country is this.
What do they eat in this country Mommy?
Mommy, Mommy, Mommy.
You need some detangler in your hair, it looks really bad Mommy
Mommy, Mommy, Mommy.
Is this the way my shoes go?
Boo!( He was hiding in the pile of laundry on the couch that I have not gotten around to folding.)
Don't yell at me Mommy, I was just trying to scare you.
Yes he has been a trial to me this morning, but I love him dearly.
Logan told me this morning that he is so glad they are no longer doing skating in PE. "Mom, It was so scary. I would have nightmares about it. It is a very dangerous sport. I don't know why they even allow it. Every time I would stand up, I would fall down. Geez, I'm surprised I was not killed." Is that a surprise to anyone? They are now doing mountain bike riding in PE. Should I be scared?

" I AM" By Anna Dunow

I am from, computers, TVs, instruments, pillows, tissues, blankets and laundry.

I am from, flowers, flags, trees, cars, trampolines, swing sets, tree houses,
toys all over, dirt, and gravel.

I am from going to big green parks, living in cull-de-sacks, schools, walks,
stores and hospitals.

I am from getting called "George", "holy cow", "get out of town",
"mind your own beeswax", " Come here what's your name",
"go away bad dream", and "drama queen".

I am from pumpkin pie, tamales, apple pies, chicken wings, ribs and pudding.

I am from camping, grandparent's houses, cousin's houses, Dions,
McDonalds, and Wendy's.

I am from hope chests, under my pillow, and my diaries.

I am from parents, grandparents, cousins, and Butch Cassidy.

Anna wrote this poem for Literacy night at her school. She stood up in front of half of the 5th grade class and their families and read her poem out loud. She has really come out of her shell. This poem really says a lot about our family. The reason behind the "Butch Cassidy" is because Grandma Fowler told the kids a story about him and told the kids that they were related to him. Boy did that stick. It really is quite hilarious that the kids all believe the story. Hope you all get a kick out of the poem! We sure are proud of our Anna.
This is a picture of Anna when she dressed up as an American Girl. They had "favorite book character" day at her school last week for Literacy Week. She turned out so cute.

Flowers from Dad

On the morning that my parents left, I received a beautiful surprise. My Dad had gone to fill up the car with gas a run pick up a few groceries for the trip and he came home with a dozen pink roses for me. I was so touched, it was all I could do not to break down and cry. I did that after they left. Let me just say that I have the most amazing parents ever. They have always been there for me and my family and would do anything for us. My kids look to them for an example and I look to them for advice. They my think that they messed up a lot with us kids but I think they did an outstanding job and I hope that Troy and I could raise our kids with the strength and faith that my parents raised me and my siblings. Thanks Mom and Dad for being the wonderful parents and Grandparents that you are.

Nama and Papa

The kids have had so much fun with my Mom and Dad here this past week. They left to go home yesterday and Olivia cried. She wanted Nama and Papa to come back and play with her. She really took to them this time and wanted them to hold her all the time. Nama even got her to sleep a couple of times! The kids loved hearing them tell stories about their childhood every night before bed. This is something that they will always remember. This time while they were here, Grandma taught Ella and Anna how to embroider. The girls are so excited to learn they hardly put their sampler down. They keep saying how they want to get really good at it so Grandma will be proud. We also spent some time outside at the park and watched the kids play. Most of all we did a lot of laughing. I am very thankful that my parents are healthy and are able to come and visit. I am most thankful that my kids are able to know their Grandparents.

A bright future!

Great job kids!!

The kids had their parent teacher conferences and received their report cards this week. I am very pleased to report that they did awesome. Last week Anna was presented with Honor roll at her school. She has worked really hard to achieve the grades that she got. I am really proud of her determination. Both Ella and Soren's grades were great. At their grade levels they don't get letter grades they get number grades. Logan got all A's and one B. Instead of being on princibles honor roll he is just on the regular honor roll. He was really upset, but we are really proud of him. We keep telling our kids that all that matters is how hard you try. If you feel like you did your best, then you should be proud of your self. All their teachers think the world of the kids, which makes me happy. No behavior problems this year-Yahoo.
Over all I think the kids did an exemplary job at school. Our family all loves to read and we feel like we could never have enough books. I really think that has to do with their success in school.

Happy Halloween!

For Halloween this year the 3 girls were black cats. I thought I was being pretty clever until it was completely dark out side and we were trick-or-treating. We could not see the girls at all, they just blended in to the dark! What a good and safe parent I am. Then there was Soren. He wanted to be an Army guy, so we dressed him up in his camo and painted his face in camo. That wasn't the smartest idea either. Once it got dark we couldn't see him at all. That's what happens when Mom comes up with smart ideas. We let Logan go off with his friends this year. He thought he was pretty cool! He decided to dress up as an Idaho Red Neck. The sad thing was he looked like a couple of my brothers. (Love ya guys.) We were laughing pretty hard! Overall I think the kids had a good time. I just need to survive the next few days of the kids gorging on candy and then I am going to throw it away.