Angel?

I was just reading through some of my old posts and then I read the little side bar under our family picture again. It's been quite awhile since I wrote that. Did I really ever refer to Sarah as an "angel?"

Since I will be updating that soon to include our new addition to the family here is what I originally wrote back when I first started this blog:

"From the moment I met Brent, I realized my life with him would certainly never be dull. He always had the most outrageous stories to tell and soon we had some pretty crazy ones to tell together. Brent and I are the proud parents of three adorable children, who bring a whole new level of adventure into our lives. My life is now filled with a princess, a pirate and an angel. It's one great story after another!"

Ashley's Birthday

Our sweet little Ashley turned 8 this year. To celebrate, we had a bowling party for her & her friends. We had 14 kids at the party, so we drove them to the bowling alley in our friends' motorhome. The kids loved it! We had a great time.




After the party, we took Ashley out for a family birthday dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. My mom, me, Brent, Ashley, Ty and Sarah were all there. They played one song where all the employees got out and danced. Ty jumped right up and joined in. It was hilarious.




Later, they came out and sang Happy Birthday to Ashley. They gave her a goofy clown wig to wear and a hulla-hoop. She was very cute. We had a great day!

Her Prince

Sarah has always been our little Princess. Which is fitting, because her name means "princess." When I was pregnant with her, I had a very strong feeling that she was a very feminine girl--a very classic kind of feminine. She has a very strong personality, but one thing is for sure, she is very feminine. She would rather wear a dress than anything else. My two other kids (especially Ty) kind of groan and grumble when I announce on Sunday morning that it is time to get ready for church. Not Sarah. She lights up and says "Church?!! Yeah!" She picks her pretty dress and is ready to go. This is not due so much to an affinity for church, although she does love going to Nursery, it is simply because she gets to wear a fancy dress and shoes.

She, of course, loves the Disney Princesses. She pretends to be Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, or Cinderella and Daddy is "her Prince." His character is the only constant. Ty is sometimes the dragon. Ashley and I are sometimes other princesses, but her Daddy is always her Prince. It is the cutest thing. When she calls to him, she says, "Come here, Prince." When we drop him off at work in the morning, she gives him a hug and a kiss and says, "Goodbye, Prince." It is the sweetest thing, it just melts my heart and I love to see the smile it brings to Brent's face every time he hears it. Once I replied, "Are you Snow White?" She responded very matter-of-factly, "No, I'm Sarah Tanner." That's when I realized she wasn't pretending--Brent really is her Prince.

Winter?

Well, the leaves have just begun to change color. They haven't even started to drop, but here it is September 30th and it's snowing outside!!! Must be global warming... I mean, climate change.

The News

It sure has been a long time since I last wrote. There is a lot to catch up on.

Ty and Ashley started back to school. Ty is in 1st grade and Ashley is in 2nd. They both go the full day now, so it is just me and Sarah at home. The first couple days of school I would walk them to the bus and Sarah would get her backpack on too and cry because she wanted to go to school with them.



Sarah did start dance lessons this year, however. She is so cute in her leotard. She loves dance and gets so excited to go. Here are some pics from her first day.


Ashley is still doing dance and cheer this year, but she and Ty also started taking Tae Kwon Do. They are so cute in their uniforms. They are getting pretty good already. It is fun to watch them and it makes me want to get up and do it too! Sarah has had a couple chances to try it. She is so cute and takes it quite seriously for a 2 year old.


I have been quite busy too. This year I volunteered to be the PTA Treasurer at my kids' elementary school. It's fun. I really enjoy being involved at their school. I also started my cheer classes again, which I love. This year we are cheering for the Brighton Little League football. I went to Brighton High so it has been fun to cheer for my school again. The little girls are so cute and I absolutely love teaching them and getting to watch them learn new things and have fun.

But the biggest news of all is that I am pregnant again!! I am already 16 weeks along, so we haven't found out what we are having yet, but it won't be long until we get to find out. We are excited! Ty is hoping for a boy. When we told them we were going to have a baby, he said it better be a boy or he and dad are leaving, because they will be surrounded! I'm sure he'd change his mind if he saw a sweet little baby girl and he'd love her to pieces too. But it would also be nice if he got to have a brother. It turns out my due date is March 3rd, my birthday. What a wonderful birthday present to look forward to!

Brent has been doing good. He's been working very hard and has so much going on. I don't know how he does it, but I'm sure grateful to have him and for all the things he does for me and the kids.

Ashley will be turning 8 on Oct. 6th. She is getting baptized this year!!! I can't believe my little girl is growing up so fast. Her baptism will be on Oct. 25th at 5:00 p.m. for anyone who would like to come. She is getting very excited about being baptized. She's such a good little girl. I just love her. I really do have the best kids in the world. Can't wait for the next one to join us too!

Sarah's Birthday

Sarah turned two on Wednesday. We had a very low key party with just Ty, Ashley, Mom and Dad, Grammy and Krisstina at Jungle Jim's. Sarah was scared of all the rides at first, but after riding the merry-go-round a couple times, she warmed up to them and had a great time! Here's some pictures.

The scary rides. (Notice her nervous face.)

The merry-go-round was much better.

I absolutely love this one!

Sarah blowing her candles out.

Brent making fun of my "Dave Ramsey" cake. Yes, it was a no-frills, inexpensive, homemade cake, but it sure did taste good! (Okay, it looks a little pathetic. By the way, I did not put the candles in. I would have at least centered them. Poor pathetic, yummy cake.)

A Day at the Zoo