My Little Pony Birthday

We decided to have a joint birthday party for the girls at Pappy's Pizza this year. They provided balloons, a table clothe, paper products, 2 slices of pizza, drinks, suckers and ice cream for each child for a very reasonable price. They also have a great play structure for the kids to play in.
There ended up being 13 kids in all, so it was much nicer doing the party somewhere other than my living room. We were there for 2 hours and had a great time.

The Birthday Girls.

The decorations.

Here are all the guests.

The cake I made for the girls.

Blowing out the candles.

L eating with her friends.

K enjoying her cake.

All their gifts.
They got lots of My Little Pony and
Littlest Pet Shop toys.

Happy Birthday, Snowman!

We woke to a world of white this morning. It was a beautiful sight to see. The girls were so excited to see the snow and wanted to go out immediately to build a snowman. I checked the school closures and sure enough, one inch was enough to shut them all down. I still chuckle every time they close the schools here.
So, I got the girls dressed and we ate some oatmeal to keep us warm while we played in the snow. We bundled up in hats, coats and gloves and ventured out into the snowy world of our backyard. The girls started off by eating some of the fresh clean snow. Then K made a snow angel; I loved doing that as a kid. Then we started rolling a ball for the bottom of our snowman. We took turns rolling it around in the snow.
Now, one of the bad things about there only being one inch of snow is that the snowman gets dirty pretty fast. However, we trudged on and were able to make a three part snowman while still leaving some patches of snow in our yard.
By the time we were done, L was very cold so we came inside and I made homemade hot chocolate while K tried to make a snow turtle. When the hot chocolate was done, I took L back outside so we could put a hat and arms on the snowman. I thought it was cute that L said "Happy Birthday, Snowman!" when we put the hat on his head. Then we went inside and enjoyed our yummy treat.

Still snowing in this picture.

K's snow angel.

L eating snow.

K rolling the snowman head.

Putting on "Daddy's" hat.

The girls named our snowman Daddy.
Guess they really missed him not being home to
play with them today. Do you see a resemblance?

MMM, hot chocolate.

L with her chocolate.

K with her marshmallows and chocolate.

Puzzle Girl

When I was younger, I loved putting puzzles together. My mom would set up a folding table for me to work on and give me pie pans to separate all my pieces into. I would spend days putting together a thousand piece puzzle and enjoy every minute of it. The process of finding the right shaped piece and watching the image start to unfold was so relaxing and fulfilling for me. I still enjoy putting puzzles together and have kept all the puzzles from my childhood. However, I don't really have a place I can do them where they can be left up without interference from the kiddos.
L has recently discovered the wonderful world of puzzle making. She sits several times a day and puts together the same puzzle. I really should get her some more like this one she loves. I hope she will continue to enjoy them as she gets older. What a fun mother/daughter activity we could do together.

Surf n' Turf

M and K surprised me a week early with a bouquet of flowers and a balloon. M also gave me a Kindle, which I was shocked to get. I had been thinking it would be nice to get one but had not mentioned it to M. It will make reading books for book club so much easier. I got M tickets to see Wicked in April.

K made some adorable Valentines with her Bahmah for her class party on Monday. They decorated cookies, made valentine bags, and handed out their valentines. K got lots of stickers and suckers. She had a great time.

The Valentine K made.

Her Valentine Bag.

All the Valentines from her classmates.

For dinner, M made shrimp, zucchini, and steak
with mushrooms and onions. It was very tasty.

Three New Years Resolutions

My final resolution for 2011 is:

3. Complete my unfinished projects.
I have so many projects from past Super Saturday's, scrapbook retreats, and... well, just crafts in general that have been sitting around collecting dust over the past 6 years. Some are even older than that. My final goal for this year is to get them finished or give them away.
How am I going to do that after my last post about spending more time with my kids? Well, I plan on spending less time in front of the computer and Hulu after the kids go to bed and more time working on crafts. Plus, my ward has just started up a craft night that meets once a month after the kiddos go to bed. This will be a perfect time for me to catch up on my seriously behind scrapbooking too.

Here is a cupcake tray I finished in the past week.

I saw it at a scrapbook store at the beach 2 years ago and
fell in love with it. I also made some paper cupcakes.

You can fill them with goodies. I did this for a treat
for my YW at church. I figure the tray will come in handy
for the many treats we bring them on Wednesday nights.

Okay so here is my second resolution and it is going to be a very hard one for me:

2. Spend more time with my girls and less time on my "to do" list.
Whether it be to clean the house, make projects, work on my calling, improve the house, peruse the internet or any myriad of other things, there is always something that has to be done NOW and my kids suffer for it.
I realized recently that my "list" will always be here; my girls won't be. K will be going to school full time in just six months. I used to think I would be happy about that because it meant more time for me to do what I wanted and needed to get done. But about a month ago it hit me really hard that she wouldn't be around much any more. We wouldn't have much time to visit, play, or just cuddle together any more.
So my most important and hardest resolution is to spend more time with my girls and let everything else take a back seat. Now if you know me, you know how hard it will be for me to let my house be untidy, my projects go undone and ...well...to be unselfish.
Being a mom really is about looking outside of yourself and giving everything you have to your kids. You don't get to do what you want when you want any more. And really, that's okay because what you get in return is so much better. I will make great memories with my kids and hopefully build a wonderful relationship with them. One where they feel safe, secure, and are willing and happy to share their innermost thoughts and dreams with me.
What more could a mother want or ask for? What more could a child ask for from their mother than to know they are the center of their world, they are loved and they are cherished? I wish I had come to this conclusion when K was littler, but I guess better now than not at all. Now, I just need to put my desires into action. Wish me luck and I will keep you posted.

We are a month and a half into the new year and I am finally posting my resolutions. I have three this year. I thought about making it an odd five but decided that was too many to focus on. Better odds of reaching my goals if I stick to a few good ones. I will make a separate post for each so I can explain my reasoning but not bore you to death all at once. So, here is the first one:

1. Stop drinking coke.
Seems like a pretty easy and benign thing to focus on but really it isn't. I used to be a coke fiend years ago before I had kids. I would drink 64 oz cokes from Dairy Mart like they were going out of style.
When I got pregnant with K, I stopped drinking coke and after my pregnancy I couldn't stand the taste of soda. I tried a sip once in a while from my hubbies glass and it was always so nasty. But eventually, after I had my last daughter, I forced myself to drink it and started liking it again. That was such a stupid thing for me to do. Not only is coke full of sugar and calories you don't need, but we are always telling our girls they can't have it because it's bad for them.
Lately I have realized I use it as a crutch to deal with anger and frustration. The kids irritate me, I go down a coke. Something isn't going as well as I would like, I go down a coke. Now, I realize there are worse things I can be doing, but this seems like a bad habit to get into. So I have decided to stop drinking coke by the end of this year.
I have done pretty well so far. We don't have any in the house, which helps, but occasionally when we are out to dinner I get a coke. I feel guilty about it, as I should since it isn't fulfilling my resolution, but I WILL STOP before December. Besides, water is better for you and I find that I am drinking more of it lately. I will keep you posted on my progress.

Who Shall I be Today?

An Indian or a 50's girl?

A Japanese Princess.

A ballerina?

How about a Dancer?

Or a Genie?

I love all the cute costumes the girls have. I'd like to get a doctor, a policeman, a fireman, and a baker costume, too. They love their dress up box and so do I.

Dress Up, Anyone?

My mother-in-law is amazing at many things, one of them is wood working. Last year I mentioned to her that I would love a box for the girls dress up clothes and she offered to make one for me. I never imaged it would be such a lovely work of art. She has been working on it since December and brought the finished piece to us on Thursday. We filled it up with all the Halloween costumes Mel has made for the girls plus some cute items I found at a garage sale. The girls had a jolly ole time dressing up for over an hour and have gone back for more everyday since. I will post those pictures tomorrow.

Mel carved a different picture for each
of the corners of the doors.

I love the heart rooftop.

Don't you just love this gorgeous wardrobe?
Thanks again, Mel, we love this box!

The Wonderful World of Three

Today my youngest, my baby, turns three. I can hardly believe it has been that long since she was lying in my arms, a cute little bundle of joy. Well, not so little, but a bundle of joy none the less.


She is:
An amazing girl with such personality and attitude.
Really good at riding her two-wheeler with training wheels.
As tall as most the kids in her sister's kindergarten class.
Loving and caring to kids smaller than her, very nurturing.
Often counting to ten and likes to count objects.
Knows what she wants and will fight tooth and nail to get it.


She loves:
Her sister and emulates her in most things.
Coloring and does so outside the lines.
Her stuffed puppy which she can't sleep without.
Bears, dogs, and horses.
Games and she's really good at Memory.
Having books read to her.
Crawling in bed with me in the early morning hours to cuddle.
Being outside playing on the swing set, digging in the dirt, and going for walks.


Her Favorites:
Making the FUNNIEST faces.
The color pink.
The movie How to Train Your Dragon.
Cheeseburgers, Macaroni and Cheese, and Pizza.
Riding on the ATV at Bahmah's.


Though we frustrate each other and butt heads at times, you are the apple of my eye. I am so happy you are a part of our family. You are an amazing little girl and I look forward to seeing you change and grow in the coming year. Happy Birthday my sweet baby.

How We Celebrate Three

L's birthday started out with butterfly pancakes and then she had a play date with her friend Lanie while I went to an appointment.
During the day she got to watch a Sesame Street DVD and then we took her out to dinner. She picked the restaurant we went to and she got a free meal plus a sundae for dessert.

When we got home she opened her gifts from the family. She got a game, a view master with lots of reels to look at, a megablocks race track, and a cute sticker book her sister made for her.

The sticker book is really cute, I am only showing the
back because her name is on the front of it.

After opening all of her presents the girls played with the race track for about an hour. I think this might be her favorite gift. I am so glad I was able to find it on ebay. They don't sell these any more which is quite a bummer.

After playing for a while, we talked her into blowing out the candles on her birthday donut. She blew them all out in three tries. An extinguished flame for each year of her life, seems appropriate.