Violatte's Artwork

Violatte has brought home some fun artwork lately and I thought I'd take pictures and share them with everybody. Pictures are not near as fun as the real thing, but at least it's something.

This is a picture of a turkey she made with her handprint. On the side it says,

"This isn't just a turkey
As anyone can see
This is very special turkey
Was made by hand by me."

This is a little pilgrim she made. She even cut out the hat by herself and drew the face on by herself.

This little boat is the Mayflower. She cut out the pieces and attached them to a popsicle stick. She even tried to write "Mayflower" on the side of the boat.

This turkey she made in Nursery and she has some of the things she is thankful for. She was so proud that she knew that the picture is of the "President."


Thank you to Anonymous for helping me out with this art project. It is an Indian with feathers on the back. I so love the feathers!

This is my favorite art project yet. It is a little dreamcatcher. She wove some yarn through holes punched in the paper plate. Then, she tied some feathers at the bottom. I love seeing the projects that she makes!

Our Thankful Day

Today was a wonderful Thanksgiving for us. We were able to spend it with my Grandparents and some friends. We had a good meal and I really enjoyed the company.
And, of course, since today is Thanksgiving, I thought I'd list some things I'm thankful for.

• Jim (my amazing husband)
• Violatte
• Annalee
• the baby on the way
• our home
• our jobs
• music
• books
• the Gospel
• scriptures
• friends
• family
• The Atonement
• prayer
• water
• rain
• experiences

These are just a few things that I could think of. I hope you all had a wonderful day also.

28 weeks

Today marks my 28th week! Wahoo! One more month closer . . . and a few more inches rounder.






















I have been feeling pretty good. It hasn't been too bad, although being on my feet all night with work is a little rough. The little guy still wiggles and moves a lot. He feels like he is growing healthy and strong. I can't believe how far I stick out! Yikes! . . . and I still have three months to go!!! This picture is a better representation of how I feel. Enjoy!

Me 'n' My Quirkiness

I was tagged by Chelsi to write about some quirky things -- I hope you all enjoy and have your good laugh for the day. I didn't realize how quirky I was until I asked Jim for some ideas to put down. It was hard limiting it to only six!

6 Quirks About Yourself

1. I have an organizing fettish. I love labels and binders and folders and everything that deals with organizing! I like to see how many things I can label to make it "easier for me." I also love to have "systems" in place for everything I do. I have a Daily Organizational Worksheet that I fill out every night for the next day so that I know what I need to get done. However, as organized as I like to be -- I lose my keys almost every single day. Ok, really? How do I do this? You'd think with all the labels . . .

2. I like to make faces with my food. I am a pro at make funny faces out of mashed potatoes and rice and milk in my cereal bowl. However, my creativity only comes out when I get bored at the table (which happens fairly often since I eat as fast as a dog and then wait for everyone else to finish.)

3. I have a hard time cooking for less than 10 people. I grew up in a big family so when I cooked -- I cooked big time! Then, when Jim and I got married I had a really hard time cooking for just two and we ended up having leftovers for the same meal for two weeks. Thankfully, I am doing a little better with this one -- although I have to admit it takes a lot of concentration for me to cook smaller amounts -- a lot!

4. I save plastic grocery bags and cardboard boxes. I'm not near as bad asI was when we were first married, though. I keep the grocery bags to use as garbage bags in the bathroom trash cans. I kept the boxes because we moved every 9 months. I just found out that Jim would secretly throw away one or two boxes a week because it drove him crazy. (Hee hee, gotta love our quirks.) Thankfully, I am doing much better at this. (Although I think we might want to take some grocery bags to the recycle box at the grocery store tomorrow.) :)

5. I am terrible at house cleaning. No, really. I am terrible! I've just learned that I need to accept it so that I don't always keep apologizing when somebody comes over. I don't mind doing it that much -- except that I can't ever seem to get it as clean as I would like so I get discouraged. I do think I'm learning though, so hopefully when I am 90 I can have a good clean house.

6. I cannot stand having less than a year's supply of toilet paper in the house at any one time. Ok, maybe not that much, but I have this thing about not having extra toilet paper around in case something happens. I guess that's what comes from living in Idaho, half an hour away from town, when you can easily get snowed in and not see the roof of your car for a month. There's just comfort in knowing that there is toilet paper in the house.

Ok, so that's enough about me. I want to hear about you all now. I tag Aimee, Cynthia, Aunt Denise, LaNae, Kihana, and Melissa C

Potty Training!!!

WARNING: For those of you who don't have kids, this may be an odd posting for you, but I have to write about the newest exciting thing in the Sanders home!

For the last little while Annlaee has been using the potty every now and then when she wanted to. Today, however, we made progress! Today she went both potty and poop in the toilet! yeah!!!! She knows when she needs to go and tells us. The only thing is she just wants to keep wearing diapers! Weird! I guess each child is different.

I have to say, though, that the big credit for Annalee's progress is Violatte. Violatte invites Annee to go to the potty when Violatte goes. They go together to the bathroom and each sit on their toilets. I love having a good example for Annalee. And Annee isn't even 2 yet! Yeah! I haven't been rushing her much, just really letting her take it at her own speed and following. We'll see what happens. I'd love it if she was potty trained before the baby came so I only have one baby in diapers at a time! That would be fabulous!

26 weeks

Today I had an appointment with the doctor for the baby. I am 26 1/2 weeks along now. Everything is going well. His heartbeat is great, my weight gain is good, and I'm measuring just right. Things are right on track.

The baby has dropped just a little bit so he's not in my ribs as much. I look quite a bit smaller than I used to because he is lower. I still fit into my regular pants, though, so he hasn't dropped too much.

I'm still feeling pretty good. I'm not too tired and I still have a fair amount of energy. This little guy does, too. He still wiggles so much, so that's great also!

Little Things

We've had a lot going on this past while! It's been a long time since I've posted so I wanted to write about a few things that have been going on in our lives.

Jim has really enjoyed working on the boat. Violatte loves helping him. Here is a picture of them working on a part of the boat together. They were sanding a board to be the stearing arm for the rudder.

Violatte is such a big help! She sets the table all by herself, she gets things for Annalee, and she loves to help with any project we are working on. I've been sewing a lot of things lately for Christmas and for maternity clothes, and that has been a lot of fun for her to help with. Violatte is talking better all the time, also. She writes her letters really well. She loves teaching things to Annalee, and Annalee is beginning to pick up letter sounds and names. It's amazing!

Violatte has said some really cute things lately. The other day we were going to drop off an order to a customer and when Violatte asked if we were going to see her friends I told her that we were just going to see some of mine for a minute. She thought for a second and then said, "Mommy, can you share friends?"

Another time, she was staring at the wall that Jim and I had fixed and been working on for a while. It is all textured and painted and finished now and as she was looking at it she said, "Mommy, the wall is pretty!"

I've also noticed lately that Violatte has gotten so tall! It is amazing to me! We got some darling pictures of her from her school and I can't wait to mail those out to you.

Annalee and Violatte are so polite and it is so cute! They say, "No, thank you" when we offer them something they don't want and it is just darling! Annalee also says, "Oh, yeah!" when she is proud of herself. My favorite, though, is that she says, "I love you" every time we are leaving and she insists on giving kisses and hugs just like Violatte does. It makes my day!
Annalee has also gotten so she is so independent. It drives me crazy. She really wants to dress herself. She really struggles with it, though, and can spend a good 40 minutes trying to figure out how to get a shirt on before she will even ask for help. If we try to help her she gets so upset at as. In the picture of Annee, it shows her trying to do her seat belt up. She gets mad if we do it without her help. She is also getting to really be a big help. She loves to help set the table and to stir things when I am making meals.

Annalee still loves to pick on Violatte and it is one stage that I really, really cannot wait for her to get through. She just does everything she can to irritate Violatte. People at the store get a big kick out of seeing the younger sister pick on the older one. Some days it seems like all I do is break up fights that Annalee starts. I just keep telling myself Annalee does it out of love. *sigh*

They are such sweet girls. I love them so much! I'm so glad they are my little girls!

What Bush Would Probably Like to Say

Well, I don't usually write political feelings and thoughts on here, but this speech is fabulous! It is a satirical article illustrating what President Bush probably would like to say to the American people when he leaves office. And, I have to add that I would have to agree.

Bush's Resignation Speech