It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (according to Max:)

This past Saturday was a busy one for me! I took Ethan and his friend, Brandon, down to a scouting event first thing in the morning so they could earn some belt loops and pins--4 belt loops and 3 pins in 1.5 hours! Yeah baby...that's the way I roll:) Efficiency at an event run by men. Soo proud of those boys! They worked hard and stayed focused!

Next on the list--softball pics! And then Carlie went to a friend's to play, Ethan had a birthday party at Brunswick, Dad had a date with the TV (FOOTBALL SEASON...need I say more?) Tatum stayed home with dad to nap so it was just me and Max. As everyone knows, Halloween is Max's most favorite holiday and he's been dying to go to Party City because he can see all the "Halloween" banners posted. So I figured why not?! We had SOO MUCH fun! We usually wait until closer to Halloween to get costumes and by that time, the stores are crazy and store clerks are running around like mad. But on Saturday, Sept. 18th we had 3 clerks all to ourselves and Max tried on costume after costume! He was in heaven to say the least! Every time he would put a new costume on, he would look at himself in the full-length mirror and do some poses and make some monster noises. It was hilarious! It was the best "Mommy & Max" date ever! So after much deliberation and careful thought he ended up choosing the "Skeleton Zombie" costume. This is a costume that he has been eyeing since all the Halloween catalogs started coming out (like in August:) Max said, "Mom...this is the costume that I've wanted since Christmas!!!" August/December...whatever! It felt like a long time to him. Good choice Max!

Here I Go!!!

I know...the LAST thing I need is another home-based business! But I can't stop making these charms! I blame my friend, Kim Orton, for teaching me how and then getting me hooked! I'm always asked about my necklaces and so I finally decided to set up a blog just for my charms so that people can view and order them anytime. My other blog is located at:

http://charmsbybuffie.blogspot.com/

One of My Most Favorite Things to Do!

I know I have a lot of piano posts--SORRY! But our lives pretty much revolve around this instrument. But I LOVE LOVE LOVE playing duets with my daughter, Carlie. One of my most favorite things to do--hands down! We played this duet today in sacrament meeting.

We have our best AND worst times at the piano--definitely more good than bad. But we always manage to pull together and make some beautiful music together. LOVE this girl! She is soo stinkin' talented!

Baby Devoney!

Well, we finally made it over to Las Cruces, NM to see the latest addition to the Knoop family! Baby Devoney Avery was born on Friday, July 16, 2010. She was a teeny tiny little thing weighing in at only 6.5 pounds! She was STILL tiny 4 weeks later at 7.5 pounds. This is my little brother's (Travis) 2nd child (2 girls now). He and his wife are adjusting well. They are both crazy hard workers and they've got this whole 2nd kid thing worked out!

The boys didn't want much to do with the baby but Carlie and Tatum fought over her all weekend. Tatum cracked me up because she would be standing in the middle of the kitchen (hard tile) and would say, "Mom, just let me hold the baby for a sec!" She just wanted to carry her everywhere. Here's some cute pics of the girls--Carlie, Tatum, Sabey, & Devoney:



My brother blessed the baby on Sunday in their ward. I actually knew a lot of people in their ward having lived in Las Cruces for 3 years before moving to AZ. So it was a lot of fun to see old friends. We had a fantastic time in NM over the Labor Day weekend. It was good to go AND good to come home!

Sheriff Max

My 5 year-old son, Max, says the darndest things sometimes! So I try to write them all down because he just cracks me up!

So this morning--like all mornings--I went to the gym. I leave at 4:45 a.m. I LOVE getting up early and getting to the gym. I do this for 2 reasons #1: I already take a lot of time away from my kids when I teach piano so I don't want to take another hour from them to work out and #2: If I don't exercise first thing in the morning, I won't do it (and the morning workout classes ROCK:) My kids actually think I don't exercise at all because they never see me coming or going. Chris goes like 2 nights a week and they think he exercises ALL the time. They always ask, "Mom, why don't you exercise like Dad?" I always bite my tongue:)

So anyways, as I'm walking back in a little after 6 a.m. Max is downstairs in the kitchen getting a drink (earlier than normal). Here is our conversation:

Max: "MOM! WHY DIDN'T YOU SLEEP IN YOUR BED LAST NIGHT?!?!" (Yeah...he was raising his voice at me:)
Me: "Max, I did sleep in my bed, I just got up early to go to the gym."
Max: "BY YOURSELF?!?! Does Dad know about this?!"
Me: "Yes Max, Dad knows."
Max: "Alright then."

I felt like a teenager getting caught coming in after curfew. Thanks Max for always keeping me straight!

Click here to read another one of my favorite "Maxisms."

Catching Up!

Boy! I sure have some catching up to do! With school and piano getting back into full swing I feel like I'm just barely keeping my head above water most days! So here I am, getting my life (and blog) back in order!

The hot days of August have really been wearing me out! So just for a change of scenery, I got out all of my fall decorations this past weekend. I know...it's not even September yet but it's just my way to silently protest the long Arizona summers. I know that it will still be 100+degrees next week but having all my fall stuff out makes me feel happy (and just SLIGHTLY cooler:) I had to laugh because my son, Max, LOVES Halloween! It is his most favorite holiday--we even had a Halloween birthday party for him this year (his birthday is January 21st) and he is already planning a "Monster Bash II" for his next birthday! Click here to see Monster Bash I. Well...all of my fall decorations are mixed in with my Halloween decorations. I went to put everything away but I was missing my 3 grave headstones and parts of my skeleton. I went about my day figuring they would turn up eventually and they did. Max did a little of his own decorating! This is his bed:

He likes to call it his "Dead Bed." (He's really into rhyming right now:) I thought it was very clever so I am allowing him to keep them there until Halloween. I think MOST kids would have nightmares if their beds looked like Max's. But whatever makes him happy. Crazy kid! Gotta love him! He was also in charge of dessert for Family Home Evening and this is what he chose: (Dirt Cups)

Ethan was in charge of dessert for Family Home Evening last week and this is what he wanted to make cupcake creations. So here are all our cute cupcakes (or "cookcakes" as Tatum calls them:)



So life is super busy but SUPER FANTASTIC! Nothing spectacular going on, just normal everyday stuff but I cherish every moment with my kids. I can't imagine my life any other way!!!

Tatum's First Day of Packer Preschool!!!

It has been a LONG three weeks here trying to explain to Tatum why she couldn't go to school just like her siblings. Well...the big day finally arrived! Tatum was SUPER excited to begin school with Mrs. Packer. This is the same preschool teacher that all of my kids have had and LOVED! So I was soo excited that Tatum would be attending the same preschool and with her being my last one at home I'm sure hoping to be able to volunteer in all of my kid's classes this year:) YAHOO!!!

So anyways...it was all great until Tatum asked the question, "Mom, you're staying with me right?!" Ugh...I was hoping she wouldn't ask that. I had to tell her "No, honey, I'm not." Well, she was NOT happy about that and cried all the way there. I made sure I was the last one to drop off so that I wouldn't hold up the drop-off line as I walked her up. Mrs. Packer was there waiting and saw the tears. She knew exactly what to do. She noticed Tatum's newly painted toe nails and asked her about them--worked like a charm! She immediately stopped crying so that she could show Mrs. Packer her painted finger nails as well! Such a girl!!! LOVE IT! So we were all good after that! WE LOVE MRS PACKER!!! (And I LOVE my 5 hours a week that I have all to myself:)