cuties

I LOVE these kiddos SOOO much!! I love to get my kids jammies for the summer, Halloween and Christmas!
I'm so thrilled I found Bryanna and Cali matching ones....with their size difference this might be the last year I can buy them without having to make them myself!

Mark has a class twice a week, so its two nights I am doing the bedtime routine solo! They were so good for me, I let them watch a bit of TV after their bath.

oh and Beau...our new adopted dog!! we love him...although not completely house trained, he is a very even-tempered, sweet puppy with lots of spunk and energy to keep Putter going to hours!

A funny I have to write down so that we won't forgot!

Maddox was driving in the car with my sister as she was on her way to pick up her kids from school. He was sleepy and was in the state of falling asleep when he broke out this funny stuff:

Maddox: Jemfer, if you stop driving bumpy, I'll give you a great, big kiss!

Jennifer: Oh, ok Maddox. I'll try!

He repeated it a few times....I thought he was so cute and clever using the age-old tactic....something for something!

showers

We have been loving the rain here, and trying to enjoy every minute outside, even though it is pretty chilly (according to a las vegan!)




I just love these two kids and I'm so grateful I can take care of them, watch them grow, and see them develop into the wonderful little people they are becoming. This is the best time of my life.
Maddox and Bryanna are constantly playing with each other and making silly faces and poses. They really are best friends, and I'm so glad they have each other to play with. (I think it was intended truly by the Lord, they keep each other entertained to give me a little break) Maddox is totally and completely into all boy things. And Bryanna into all girl things. I love that they are complete opposites, but get along fabulously (most of the time...they both have their tiffs).

Home Depot

Yes, we do alot of projects around our house. Yes, we get our supplies mostly from Home Depot. Yes, the kids have to go with us a lot of the time. Bryanna calls it the "Boy Store" Maddox loves it because the kids always get to pick out a little treat at the cash register. So....what does this all mean??????

Monday Night: We did FHE.

FHE topic: Joseph Smith...lately Bryanna's favorite church song is "Praise to the Man"...she's been humming and singing the tune quite a bit. So we figured we'd teach her a little more about who the "man" is in the song.

FHE prayer: Maddox, the 2 year old, says the opening prayer and it goes something like this:

"Dear Heavenly Father, Thank for this day. Thank for my family. Thank you for my blessings. Thank you for Family Home Depot...."

I can't remember the rest because I was laughing and giggling that he said Family Home Depot instead of Family Home Evening.

Needless to say, we had a great lesson about Joseph Smith and tried to reiterate that we were having Family Home EVENING, but I don't think that one kicked in.

Yes, FHE has an entirely new take for our family!!!

some funny kids

I caught maddox going upstairs packing his swords in his pants!
This is when I was asking him what he had in his pants, and we was very happy that I noticed! Oh my goodness, I love when my kids do the silliest things, it brings such a smile to my heart!
he's showing a little bum...I thought it was sooooooooooooooooooo funny!! needless to say, he loves his swords enough to share his pants with them!
Bryanna was doing some great tricks, and I had to pull out the video camera to catch her spontaneous twirls, and high kicks and some other funny stuff! Maddox was right there with her, trying to get some air time too!

funny of the week

I was out finding shoes for Bryanna's flower girl dress when she said the funniest thing to me on our way home. Our conversation went like this when we climbed into the car:

Bryanna: Mom, that girl was wearing a bad dress (referring to the girl, wearing a tube-top dress, who was standing behind us at the register).
Me: You're right Bryanna, we shouldn't show our chest. (I hesitated on using the word chest in case she would question me more about it, but then she said this...)
Bryanna: Jesus doesn't like it when we show our boobie crack!!
Me: You got it!! (Laughing hysterically inside, and calling Mark to tell him this funny thing!)

pet dragon

Watching the Barbie version of "Rapunzel" while driving home last night, this was a portion of our conversation.

Bryanna: If our car stops working mom, we can fly around on a dragon's back.
Me: Oh really?
Bryanna: Ya. And it could be our pet, and we'll feed it all the time, and play with it. It could take me to the park and to the pool.
Me: Sounds like fun!

I swear she wishes life were more imaginary and that cool things like flying dragons and magic existed. Then again, so do I! If you've seen this DVD, then you know exactly what our pet dragon would look like.

funny girl

some of our conversation over breakfast this morning:

Bryanna (already in imaginary mode): Mom, Maddox is the dad, and I call him honey, and he likes to go shopping with me. He even babysits the kids.
Me: What a good dad.
Bryanna: Ya, the best!

I think that was the sweetest compliment a girl could give her daddy!

the clubhouse

One of the reasons we moved into our neighborhood was all the amenities of the clubhouse, specifically, the pool. One cannot survive the Vegas summers without access to a pool! I don't want one in my backyard yet, fear of small kids drowning. Although it would be very convenient. So at least we can go play in a pool and not have that constant worry if the gate wasn't closed to the pool at home.

We spend at least three days a week, if not more, swimming at the clubhouse. And what's even better is we usually go with good friends from our ward!

Grace & Bryanna in the showers

One of my best friends, Lindsay, aka: my gym buddy, pool buddy, freezer group meals pal, double date couple, swapping babysitting so we can get to appointments, etc. It helps that two of our kids are the same age. What would we do without good friends in this world???

Lindsay and Gavin

two of a kind: Grace & Bryanna.
They are such good little friends.

We LOVE the clubhouse!

heart to heart talk

Bryanna (dressed as a doctor, with a stethoscope and apron on, listening to her doll's heart): "Mom, her heart stopped!!!!"
Me: gasp! "Uh oh! She died!"
B: "What?
Me: "Well, when your heart stops, that means you died."
B: "Ummmm, that's OK. It will turn on again." (completely serious!)

Most of this heart talk has been a result of many celebrities dying. (i.e. Michael Jackson, Billy Mays) I guess the moral of the story is, take care of your heart.

i love valentine's day

I love...

~getting a few dozen roses from my sweet heart, my favorite!
~opening those funny and romantic cards that ask, "be mine"
~getting pampered by my valentine, he really goes out of his way to make me feel all the love in his heart
~the romance connected with this holiday...some people would say that money makes the world go round...but I'd have to say that love is what makes the earth spin around its axis.

On a funny side note:

Bryanna: "Daddy, can I please have some marshmallows?"

Mark: "Hold on a second, Bryanna, I have to finish this..." (mark working on the computer, not making eye contact)

B: "Daddy, you better get me some marshmallows, or I'm going to get into them!!"

M: "Sure, be right there..." (mark instantly getting off his chair and moving towards the kitche to help her)

"The Book of Norman" (mormon)

you should definitely push pause on my playlist so you can hear Bryanna tell us about the Book of Norman (Mormon)!!

pure. joy.

Bryanna got into my makeup, right as we were leaving for dance class. I always know when she is doing something naughty, for she is hiding and won't come out. I just left her cute lips just the way I found her and we were off. She was pretty responsible with my lip gloss, she handed it back over with the lid screwed on tight and I was very relieved to find the wand only touched her lips, and not my carpet or the walls or her clothes. She's not really known to make those sort of messes, but you never know the mischief behind her sweet, innocent little eyes! The kids were sitting side by side on the coffee table, watching one of their favorite cartoons. It was so sweet, how they were quite casual about sitting on my furniture that isn't for resting your gluteous maximus on! And Bryanna in one of her many dress-up costumes. Just another day in the Perry home with Bryanna waltzing around in puffy sleeves and a twirly skirt!
I clearly remember stomping through the puddles on a rainy day as a child. I love the rain, how it cleanses the earth and brings such fresh scents to the somewhat polluted air in Las Vegas. I was watching Bryanna out the window today and had to capture what a treasure it is to see her enjoy the rain so much. All I could think of while witnessing her explore the wet earth was 'she is pure. she is joy.'

Popcorn...

The kids take after Mark on this one...

Christmas came early!

Last week, Mark went out and bought Rack Band!!! The new version of Rock Band is coming out and so all the original versions have gone on SALE! We have been playing almost every night...and having so much fun!

Our little Drummer girl...her favorite...and she's pretty good at it too! She can follow the colors and hit them on beat occasionally!

Daddy likes the guitar because its "easier" than the drums!


Maddox walks around the house with both the drum sticks in his hands...and hasn't used them as weapons yet (luckily!). When ever we start playing he will find what ever he can to hit the drums too!!

We will be in Hawaii for Christmas and New Years, so we are giving gifts whenever we happen to get them...Thanks for a fun family toy babe!

Embarrassing, but funny!

Today I ran a few errands while Bryanna was in Preschool. Maddox was my shopping buddy, and he made quite a fun one at that! I ran into Home Depot to grab some more bug spray (the concentrated kind that you mix with water, we have found that to be very effective!) Anyway, it was time to refill on that, but I was also rushed for time...I had about 20 minutes before I had to pick up Bryanna. As we walked into the store, Maddox did NOT want to sit in the cart, but I stuck him in there anyway and let him play with my purse. We walked over to the insect spray section and I began searching for the product. About 45 seconds and I found it. THEN, I looked down at Maddox. He happened to find one of my tampons, its pink and white...how could you not recognize what it was a mile away...and he was pulling on the plastic with his two little hands trying to open it!! EMBARRASSING!!! I snatched that thing out of his hands faster than he knew what happened!! I looked around and it didn't seem like too many people were watching...oh well...it makes for a good laugh, right?

We were watching Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian, and Bryanna asked what they were doing in a particular scene. I told her "They are making weapons." She enthusiastically said, "They're making WEBKINZ????" LOL...for those of you who don't know what that is...they are little stuffed animals that you can adopt and give them a name on the internet. When you buy them it comes with a code and you input that cod on the website. I thought she was pretty funny!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

I made this gingerbread house at a party on Saturday...Thanks Christene, it was TONS of fun! Making all the houses from scratch and hosting the party is a big job, it was fabulous! I got to catch up with friends I hadn't seen in...too long! I love this group of ladies, and I forgot exactly how much fun we really do have! Although I'm not the most creative person out there, I think my gingerbread house turned out pretty good!

When I got home, Bryanna couldn't stay away from it...it was all just TOO MUCH eye candy for her!

Front view

Back view

Bryanna really wants to make one of her own now...I think I need to get on the ball and get some gingerbread creativity going with her!

Monkey See, Monkey Do...She had to take a turn with the camera...although it doesn't show the whole house, I thought this one was pretty darn cool for her to capture! She is quite the little mimic these days. I forget how much She watches me and wants to do everything I do!

Now I can promise you that she has never seen me put pink chapstick and rub it all in my hair...


Or stick crayons up my nose...

Maybe it was Mark? :)

Love this stage...

Maddox LOVES walking around in his daddy's shoes...its SO cute to watch him stomp around in those over sized tennis shoes!

This Week

In between Conference sessions on Saturday, we headed over to our neighborhood park to get some wiggles out. We have been enjoying the weather, although for this time of year is still out of the ordinary...warm! Mark helped the kids on the teeter-totter. He's such a fun daddy, because I don't do that when I go to the park with the kids! Thank goodness for daddy and all the fun he has with the kids! I got a Dragon costume for Maddox this year for Halloween. It's definitely too small for him already, the kid is a tank! I wanted to try it on to see how bad it was, and I think we can pull it off with Halloween only a few more weeks away. It was the biggest size I could find, and barely fits!! Maddox, would you please quit growing up so fast? You are my baby and I don't like it one bit!! When Bryanna saw Maddox all dressed up, I told her he was going to be a Dragon for Halloween. She said, "He's going to be a DRAGON FLY?" LOL!!! So, now poor Maddox is not only wearing a costume on the small side, he's a dragon fly to his big sister too!! Maddox has really started to just do some really funny things lately. I have this funny feeling he might be the class clown when he goes to school. He's always making us laugh! Bryanna is constantly playing dress-up. From the moment breakfast is over til we have to go somewhere, she is in one of her dresses...changing outfits a dozen times a day...I'm just curious to find out how long this stage will last...its cute and fun, until I find her clothes strewn all over the house!