My Little Ballerina

Sam had her first dance recital last weekend. She is in a class called Creative Movements for 3 year olds and loves it. It is so funny because in her dance class and in preschool she is kind of known as the class clown, but at her recital it was down to business! She got pretty serious about her ballet moves and when she was on stage she was focused! There was no goofing off, or getting embarrassed, it was her time to shine and she knew it. It was hilarious!


There was much celebrating after the recital! Sam and her friend Brinley!


Nick surprised Sam with some flowers after her performance that she wouldn't stop smelling! What a good dad!
Both Nick and I were Proud Parents!

And where was Cooper during all of this you might ask??? Don't let this innocent look fool you!

This was the real Cooper during it all! Making messes and running around in the back! WE LOVED IT! What boy wants to sit and watch dancers honestly??? Instead they eat cake!

Christmas in July??

Nope... just feels like it! :)
We had our Ward Christmas Party last Saturday and the kids loved Santa! Cooper was a little concerned at first... but then realized that with Santa came free treats. He loves his treats!

Last year Sam was alittle afraid of Santa because one night I told her that she better stay in bed because Santa was watching her. From then on she thought someone was outside her window watching her. Not good mom! This year she seems to love him!

Just a few pictures of the kids enjoying the out doors. The weather is beautiful here in AZ and we are taking advantage of it! Cooper loves his rocks...

And Sam loves her trampoline!

Did Halloween Pass Already???

We had one of the most interesting Halloweens yet this year at the Siddoway home so we thought, although incredibly late, we would share a few memories with you.

I love the people down here because everyone loves Halloween and it shows. House decorations everywhere, parties galore, and people don't skimp on costumes. Well, except Nick and I this year! (I know we are party poopers, but let me tell you why!)

We started the weekend before Halloween with a ward Trunk or Treat with food, 2 haunted houses, games for the kids and of course the Trunk or Treat. It was Nick's birthday that night so we were partying for many reasons. That next Tuesday Nick and I decided to indulge in some cake that had been sitting out all night and day. Cake that Should Have been refrigerated. Late Tuesday night we were feeling it. So Nick and I got food poisoning Tuesday night and were sick most of Wednesday! Yes on Halloween!!!!! I felt so bad for my kids because mom and dad were down in bed. Thank heavens for parties! Sam had a party first thing in the morning with a little Halloween Parade. As soon as that was over we ran to a preschool party where pumpkins were painted. And both kids enjoyed a party that afternoon with their friends at Erin's house. It was a killer party with games, cookies, music, and ghosts. They had a blast!


Most kids after frosting their cookies wanted to take them home. Not my Sam. She licked the plate clean. We don't believe in letting treats wait at our house! :)

Cooper in his full getup at the party. Sam was a princess of course and my little Coops was her Knight. It was fun!

As we got ready for the big night I made the mistake of leaving our candy for the Trick or Treaters out and Cooper was enjoying a sucker before we ever left the house

This is his "Peeeeeeeeese" face!

Sam my little princess. She is my little poser and I love it!

As we left for the Trick or Treating, the helmet stayed home and was replaced by the sword!

All in all this was the funnest Halloween yet. Because of the yucky tummies that night we saved our traditional Flannery Chili and breadsticks dinner for Thursday and enjoyed Halloween Thursday as well! And although we still listen to our Monster Mash CD (Thanks Heidi) and it is now mid November, I have a feeling that Halloween will continue for quite a while at our house, or until I hide the CD and the costumes! Go Halloween!

The Long Awaited Schnepf Farms

We decided to make Schnepf Farms a tradition in our family every year. We had only been living in Arizona for a month or two last year when we saw this and decided to go. Schnepf is what won my heart over for Arizona! It was the funnest family farm ever. There are hay rides, corn mazes, a spooky train, face painting, pony rides, amusement rides, a big chili cook-off and bands playing throughout the farm. I love it!


And so do my kids! I bet we spent a good hour trying to pick out the most perfect pumpkin!In the end, Cooper picked one more his size and decided to carry it throughout the entire park. He would not let go of it. During the hay ride Coops did seem a little concerned though.

The kids highlight of the trip were the pony rides. When we did this last year Sam rode a pony named Misty. Misty has been a part of our family ever since. Every horse we see, every toy horse we have, everything was about Misty. So here is a girl and her beloved horse. (Well we renamed this horse to Misty and it all worked out.)

I was so proud of my little buddy. He rode Oreo all alone. I was worried the whole time but it didn't seem to phase him one bit! Both my kids are obsessed with horsies (their name in our house) so this was so fun!

The sacrifices parents make for their kids. Both Cooper and Sam wanted to ride the Flying Bees but there had to be a parent per kid. So Nick and I spent a good 2 minutes holding down whatever was in our tummies to spin around in Bees. It was all worth it!

Most people come for the big Chili cook-off. Sam stuck with the LARGE hamburger and believe it or not she actually finished off the whole thing! That's my girl!

It was such a fun night and this tradition will be carried out next year and every year after that. Go Schnepf Farms!!!

AVOCADO

A craving you might ask?

Nope, just the size of our little boy! We are now 16 1/2 weeks and have a baby the size of an avocado. Although I am feeling like a little guacamole right now! Yum!

Best Buds!

Sam has never been your typical girly girl. Although princesses and dress-ups are an everyday occurrence... so are mud fights, climbing on walls, and skinned knees. So one day my kids will be covered in necklaces and purses, both boy and girl, and the next day they will be covered in mud and grass. It makes life interesting. It also creates a unique relationship between my two cute kids. No matter what they are doing, they do it together. Barbies, trucks, coloring, rock throwing contests; their buds through it all and I love it! Don't get me wrong, we have our fair share of "that's mine" screaming contests, and Sam has definitely lost quite a bit of hair these last 6 months from Cooper pulling it out, but through it all the end result is a big hug and a smooch from Coops to Sam.

This is the latest trend (I use this word carefully hoping that it will soon fade out) in our home. I set up a little studio in my office a couple of weeks ago to do a photo shoot for my friend and never took it down. Sam and Cooper took everything off the table and it is now there "death-defying" toy! This is how it all starts, innocent enough.

It quickly turns into this.

And this is the end result. Cooper won't do it by himself so Sam just grabs his hand and off they go together! Jumping off the table landing on a bean bag. Yes, there have been a few tears shed. So, why do I continue to let this go on? While I work on my computer this is how they keep busy, and they keep busy for hours. That's why!

And I had to post this picture of Sam and her sleeping habits. Or I guess I should say her bad sleeping habits. We had our friends the Bucks over this weekend and had a Transformers movie night. Poor Sam just couldn't stay in her bed with all the excitement going on. After many attempts to keep her upstairs both Nick and I thought we finally conquered our sleepy, yet strong willed, little girl. When the movie was over and we got up we found a little surprise. I love my Samantha!

IT'S A BOY!

Or at least the Dr is 99% sure. We are only 14 weeks along so it is still pretty early to tell, but I guess our boy was being a show off the day of the ultra sound. He was bouncing all over the place, rubbing his eyes and kicking his feet.Due Date... April 6, 2008

Yikes... I guess this means Nick and I will finally be out numbered!

A Year's Worth of Pictures fit into 10 Days!

With my husband growing up in Cali, Disneyland is in his blood. In the five years that we have been married, I too have been infected with the 'Disney Bug'! And our kids just didn't have a chance/choice, they were born into the Disney Magic!!!
Nick had a work conference down in Costa Mesa, CA last week so we decided to tack a Disney trip to the front and back of his conference. And because his mom and brother both work at Franklin Covey as well, it was a big Siddoway Disney Adventure!

It was so fun because Disneyland is completley covered with Fall/Halloween decor. All of the characters have different costumes and there are so many extra activities for the kids to do. Down by Thunder Mountain they have this new activity for kids called 'Woody's Halloween Roundup' where the kids get to decorate a spooky cookie, sing halloween songs and meet Woody and Jessie! The place is covered with pumpkins and fall stuff. This was one of the highlights of our trip!!

The end result was that the cookie looked great but tasted even better. Both Cooper and Sam and Mom had purple teeth for the rest of the day!

During the week while the conference was going on and everyone was working, my sister Alli decided to fly down for the day and spend the day at Disney with her favorite sister and niece and nephew! Sam and Coops were so happy to see her and spend time with her. Now only if we could get Brooke down here! :)

Not only do they decorate Disneyland, but they also decorate California Adventure. The theme this year was Candy Corns. It was fun to see all the different characters dressed up for the event. Cooper was a little shy at first, but then he warmed up to them and thought they were great!

Sam and Coopers favorite thing about Disneyland??? Just getting to see their Papa and Grandma Kris, and Andy, Hillary and little Ashton. It was so fun for the kids to just be able to hang out with Papa and Grandma all day long.

Grandma Kris and Sam dancing in New Orleans Sqaure to a little Jazz music!

This was Coops face on almost every ride. "I think I like it, give me a second and I will let you know."

The Rockets is Sam's all time favorite ride. It is a ride that Daddy goes on with her because Mommy doesn't do those spinning rides. Daddy doesn't either, but you gotta sacrifice for your kids... well, he does!

The trip was wonderful and company was even better!

We love Disneyland!