VIP

Ellie is the "VIP" in Kindergarten this week. I made this collage to share with her class, and just wanted to share it with you too. My goodness, she is one cute kid.

A Little Bit of Happy

Okay, so this last week (perhaps the last four months?) have been crazy. Maybe we all have Spring Fever - I don't know. I do know that I've felt pretty close to packing my bags and running for the hills. Or maybe not even taking time to pack my bags. It's been rough. The kids have been exceedingly noisy. I just can't seem to keep on top of my housework, so I'm constantly stepping on toys and paper and whatnot. I spend a good portion of the day picking up, but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference. By the end of the day, I am exhausted and want nothing more than to climb in my bed and forget about the day. Sounds depressing, huh? Don't worry. I do focus on the happy things. Here's a whole bunch of it: My Maren. She's probably a good portion of the source of my stress these days. She's defiant, constantly whining, she pushes, hits, pulls when someone's in her way. And I swear, she has started peeing on the floor to punish me. Three-year-olds are tough. Okay, so we are focusing on happiness, right? Right. Well, I had to smile when I went to check on the girls and found that Maren had made herself a bed out in the hallway, complete with a big 'ol stack of books. She's so cute when she sleeps. And quiet. And still.

Family Home Evening. It's not always the ideal scene, but we do do it, and the kids love it. My husband is so good to always give a lesson, even if it's a last minute one out of the Friend magazine.

Maren's artwork. All this girl desires at the moment is markers, crayons, tape, paper, and scissors. She loves it. She has taped her artwork all over our house.

I love the way the bright morning sunlight streams right through our East-facing windows and right onto our breakfast table. Sure, it may temporarily blind you, but it just makes me so happy.

This girl. She gives me the biggest, hugest smile whenever she sees me.

A nice Spring day!! Or is it still Winter? I really don't know, the season has been so screwy this year. Anyway, it was warm enough to go outside and play and it does good for the soul. And just look how happy my kids were too! Maybe we do just have a bad case of Spring Fever. My clothes still smell like outside-ness. Mmmm...

Our train. The girls set this up several weeks ago, and here it still stands. It just makes me laugh. The nice thing about it is that when the wind blows hard, it just tips the chair back onto the one behind it, instead of blowing them all over the yard like it usually does.

I take the camera outside and Ellie's favorite game is try-to-not-get-captured-on-camera. I usually win.

Oh, my kids are sweet. Just looking at these photos again makes me happy. Now, I need to go tackle the house. Again.

Valentine's Day

We've started a tradition for Valentine's Day where we make a "fancy" dinner and eat by candlelight as a family. The kids love it and really look forward to it with anticipation, and Nick and I have fun planning a menu and going all out. This year's menu: roasted red pepper hummus with sourdough bread, almond-orange salad, chicken cordon bleu, bacon and brussel sprout hash, glazed carrots, sparkling grape juice, and frozen chocolate custard for dessert. Yum-mo!

And I wanted to share this cute idea from familyfun.com:

Our chandelier looks so festive, and the girls had a blast painting the hearts and then stringing the beads.

The Rest of The Weekend

Firstly, Lainey is now four months old. I took her to her well check this morning and she is 12 lbs. 4 oz. (12%) and 23.5 inches (13%). A petite, well-proportioned baby. I'd like to see you try and blow a spit bubble that big! ;) This girl has talent!

See the toe fuzz? Totally left it there on purpose.

Everett had a fabulous birthday with lots of presents and love.

He had lots of helpers when it came time to open presents. We had to protect the little guy from the mobs.

And today is Valentine's Day, which means we've been eating a lot of chocolate around here:

Two

Everett,

You make us all so happy. Dad says all the time how "cool" you are. You do silly things and make silly faces, just to make us smile. You like to sing, and lately you've been singing the ABCs and The Wheels on the Bus (in the best way you know how). It's really cute. I love to hear you repeating words when we do family scriptures too. That's got to be about the cutest thing ever. Hearing you pray is up there too. You like to explore and are constatly getting into stuff. You love to do what your sisters are doing, especially if it involves screaming. You are a happy boy and make our home a better place to be.

We all love you lots and lots, boy.
Happy Birthday.

Love,
Mom

The boy's first birthday present, balloons. I don't know that he needs anything else, he loves them so much.

Always An Adventure

Being the mother of four small children is always an adventure. Life is constantly changing, bringing new challenges, as well as kissing others good-bye. You gotta keep life fresh, roll with the punches, and laugh along the way.

This last week, Ellie opened a brand new gallon of milk and squeezed the last of our strawberry syrup right in. Not quite enough to make delicious strawberry milk, but just enough to make it taste right off on my Raisin Bran. Nice. Everett was not to be outdone. He 'washed' his hair with lotion the other day. Nick totally thought he had just gotten out of the tub when he got home from work, that's how slick it looked. I chuckle to myself as I write this down, because looking back, this is good stuff. The stuff memories are made from.

Anyway. The one good thing about Dad skipping town for a few days for work is this: When he comes back home. Not to mention he got to visit my sister and her brand-new baby while he was gone. Not fair. Not fair at all.

Good thing we have a cute baby of our own to smooch on.

Remember when I was saying she's a momma's girl? I wasn't kidding. This girl ONLY likes her momma right now. Like last week when I was giving a friend a ride and she was sitting next to Lainey, trying to give her a pacifier. Nope, not going for it. I reached back, gave her a plug and left my hand there by her face and she calmed right down. Even dad looking at her will make her squeal. This girl knows her momma and loves her something fearce. I love her right back. She is one spoiled girl.

Oh, and our handsome, funny, mischievous little boy is turning two tomorrow. Two! Birthday celebrations, here we come!

Same Mold

I took this photo of Lainey a few days ago. Oh, she makes my heart happy. It reminded me of this photo:

Our Ellie Belle at about the same age (and by the way, she makes my heart happy too). Hmm...looks kind of like they could be sisters, eh?

Or, how about this:

Could you even tell that those two photos are two seperate babies? One is Lainey, the other is Everett. Want to take a guess?

The funny thing is that Lainey was born c-section, under general anesthetic - I didn't see her right after birth. In fact, I didn't see her until several hours after birth. So, for several weeks I kept thinking, "what if this isn't my baby? I never saw her at birth...they could've switched babies on me." Well, here's the evidence. This baby is certainly and most positively ours.