Let the celebration begin!

Because I am a believer of celebrating your birth week, my children are the beneficiaries of my ideals. Hannah turned two on Wednesday. We had a pretty mellow day with a trip to a pumpkin patch, a dinner out (her choice was grilled cheese) and home for presents. I wasn't expecting her to understand the concept yet, but boy was I wrong! She was ALL over the presents. Multiple times she told Tyler, "it's mine!" She gets it! I found a super great deal on a cardboard cottage for her. I think she would live in there if I let her!
To continue the birth week celebrations, we had a family party for her over the weekend. She has always loved lady bugs and monkeys. I wasn't about to attempt a monkey cake, so I opted for a lady bug. It turned out cute and even more importantly YUMMY!
She had a great time with all the cousins, opening gifts, taking a bite of the wax candles (you heard me right!), and blowing out the candles twice during our singing. She's a quick one!
Hannah is our sweet girl. I am grateful she is healthy, learning, growing, and all mine. She is smart, tough, silly, gentle and overall lovable! Happy Birthday to my Hannah!

Cardboard and Colors

Have you ever wondered what to do with all those old moving boxes? Well, wonder no more. Just make a HUGE fort in the basement. *WARNING* You will need a lot of packing tape!

And Saturday was one of those days you just want to last forever. After working hard with a run in the morning, mowing the front and back lawn, and weeding the front yard, I rewarded myself with a BEAUTIFUL hike with the family up Mueller Park Canyon. The sun was shining, the leaves were every shade of red, yellow, orange, brown and green you can imagine, and the kids got out all of their energy. In fact, Hannah fell asleep on the hike down! Walking through the forest and seeing the colors of the trees always leaves me in awe. I can't help but feel peace when on a hike like that. A wonderful Saturday indeed!

This week we are excited to celebrate Hannah's 2nd Birthday! Wish me luck on her lady bug cake. Let's hope it turns out the way I see it in my head.

New House

Don't worry, we are still alive and well. I know you were all wondering where we've been and what we've been doing. Moving. That's what! After painting a few rooms, cleaning, unloading, organizing, putting together furniture, reorganizing, and more cleaning, we are happily getting settled into a new house. A HUGE thank you to all who helped us move!

The kids have adjusted pretty well to the new place. Since most of their toys were in storage for the last four months, it seemed like Christmas morning to them while unpacking! I should pack away half their toys more often and rotate them! Here are a few pictures of Tyler's new room. It used to have electric blue walls. YIKES! I love how his room turned out.

And for those of you curious, here are a few random pictures from the house. It is still a work in progress! We are figuring out where we want things and realizing we need a few more things. But hey, that's moving!

And here is the real reason we wanted to rent his house! I tell you, it has already saved my sanity.

Big P, little p. What begins with P?

If you are curious about where the title for this post came from, it is from Dr. Seuss' Alphabet book...which I've read to Hannah more times than I care to count!

1. Preschool
Tyler started preschool last week. Thank goodness! The preschool came highly recommended, and so far I have been very impressed with the teacher. I am a firm believer that preschool is a win-win for mom and child. I'm amazed at how much I can accomplish while he is gone. Likewise, Tyler develops social skills and a love for learning.

2. Peach Days
Every year our family goes to Brigham City's Peach Days. I've honestly only missed like four years my whole life! Tyler and Hannah LOVED the rides. I of course loved relaxing with my family and eating delicious food (and peach pie) from Maddox. This is one of my favorite family traditions!

3. Puzzles
Sunday morning after watching the special 9/11 Music and the Spoken Word, Steve pulled out this puzzle. It felt like a good way to remember the past and celebrate our heritage. This puzzle is comprised of hundreds of past stamps that make our flag. Hardest puzzle I've ever done! It's funny that while we were putting it together, we would swear that the piece we were looking for must be missing. Yet no missing pieces on this one!

4. Preserves
Who goes to Peach Days and doesn't buy peaches? This year my mom and I are canning about 30 quarts of peaches. We also have 4 jars of jam...so far. I honestly don't know how the pioneers did it all. I was tired after just 14 quarts in one night! It looked like a bomb went off in the kitchen. But come this winter, I will thoroughly enjoy the fresh taste of peaches....and maybe make some delicious Pioneer Woman Peach Crisp with Maple Cream sauce, if you twist my arm!

5. Personal Records
This past Saturday I ran my fastest 5k time ever. While 27:27 isn't a super fast time for some, it is fast for me. I ran the whole thing without stopping and wasn't even sore after. Just a year and a half ago I ran a 5k that took me 40:39. I am amazed at what our bodies can do if we work hard little by little. It feels good to feel good!

First (and last) camping trip of summer

The Pulleys like to camp. It just doesn't happen that often. With Steve studying for the Bar all summer, there was never a good time to go. We decided that Labor Day was the perfect day for camping...even if it was in the backyard.

The first task of the afternoon was setting up the tent. Our 10 man tent is awesome. It has three rooms. Listen to the logic on this. We can separate and contain the kids in separate rooms. Brilliant! The rain clouds and light rain weren't going to stop us.

Next came roasting marshmallows. What person doesn't love a perfectly roasted marshmallow? And what camping trip would be complete without them?

Finally came playtime in the tent. The kids had more fun making silly faces and bouncing on air mattresses than anything else. Laughing, playing, and being together is what family is all about. It was a great time, even if we ended up coming inside at 12:30 a.m. to our own beds! We'll have to camp again next summer.