Valentines Day 2013

I'm finally getting to my Valentines day post! February is by far the craziest month of the year around here and it's all I can do to keep my head above water! Of course everyone knows that I seriously HEART Valentines Day! It's one of my favorite holidays to celebrate and decorate for. I didn't do any new projects this year so my decor stayed the same (though there are a couple things I'm sad I didn't have time to get to). We did make homemade Valentine cards for the kids. I showed them a bunch of ideas on pinterest and let them pick something out. Here's what we came up with:

I  made everything you see in Power Point and just printed them out on my normal printer. Easy peasy. I made a great discovery this year too - if you're ever looking for mini candies, Party City has tons and tons of options. It's a great place to find stuff if you want to do a cutesy, fun card. Makenna's teacher gave them an extra credit assignment to write a personal note to each other on their Valentines. I was so touched by the kind things Makenna took the time to write about her friends and that they wrote about her. It was a brilliant idea from her teacher (I seriously loooooove him - best teacher ever!)

We had our normal Valentine morning breakfast - heart pancakes with strawberry syrup and whipped cream with a red smoothie. Super yummy. We always give the kids a little gift and everyone was happy with what they got. I bought Allen some new headphones after doing about 10 hours of research. He has been looking for new ones for awhile and was so surprised that I did all the research and bought them for him. I love when I can surprise him.

He spoiled me with a new e-reader. I've been on the fence about getting one for a long time but after doing tons of research I found one that I thought I would like. Needless to say, it's getting LOTS of use already and Allen loves that I can stay up late and read without a light on (a nightly occurrence for me).

My cutie-pie Valentines before heading out for the day!

 As room mom for Makenna's class I was in charge of the Valentine party. I decided to have a Minute-to-Win-It party and we played a bunch of quick Valentine themed games. The kids had an absolute blast and I loved it because it was pretty easy to put together. We also had a cookie decorating bar that they loved plus a little bit of snack food for the kids. Her teacher asked that I minimize the junk food due to the kids getting lots of candy for the holiday. Kenna with a couple of her friends:

 Cookie decorating:

I also quickly stopped by Carter's classroom to see his party. What a huge surprise to see the difference between 2nd and 4th grade parties. His was SO low key. There were no parent helpers (the 2nd grade party had about 10 parents helping) and the kids were just enjoying a few snacks, passing out their cards and doing a small craft project. It was kind of refreshing. 

For dinner we made homemade mini heart pizzas and had our traditional chocolate fondue for dessert.

During dinner there was a knock on our door and when we answered it we found one of Makenna's classmates on our doorstep with his mom bringing Makenna ice-cream from Baskin Robbins. This cute boy had also brought her a teddy bear for Valentines day so I suspect there is a bit of a crush happening there. I was quite shocked (still am) that the mom was willing to do this for her and while it was really cute I also realize that we don't really want to encourage this kind of behavior at such a young age. Ugh. I'm so not ready to deal with crushes/boys/relationships. 

One new thing we tried this year was heart-attacking our kids doors every night. We had so much fun with this that I think it will  be a new tradition. Allen or I wrote a quick note to the kids each night with a reason we love them and taped it to their doors. The kids LOVED it. We also did heart -attacks in an envelope and mailed it to the grandparents and they were very well loved! 

 It was a great and busy day! We just have one more birthday this month and then Makenna's baptism this weekend. I'm so excited and have a very busy week ahead of me to get everything ready!

My "baby" is 2!

Sob! Where does the time go?!  Miss Ems turned two years old a couple weeks ago. I honestly can't believe it has been two years since this little miss joined our family. She has certainly made our family better and we are all so in love with her we can barely stand it!

Before opening her gifts:

 Once again we had no idea what to get her for her birthday. She loves playdoh and animals so we got her some new playdoh stuff, a couple animal books, sticker books and more Little People princess stuff. She was thrilled with her gifts and even my big girls loved playing with the princess play doh set! The Farm book has been a huge hit since it plays animal sounds and she has carried it with her everywhere.

 During the day I was so excited to take the girls to a new indoor play area called WiggleWorks. I guess this is a big company in Japan and this is the first franchise in the US. It was super fun and unique. It's geared to kids 5 and under and was so fun. The girls loved the wind tunnel that had tons of balloons flying around in it.

 They loved this giant water bed type thing that they were able to jump and play on and watch the water slosh around inside of.  They had lots of other really neat play equipment. We stayed for about 2 1/2 hours and the girls were sad to leave. We will definitely be going again!

 Emery has been practicing holding up two fingers for a long time. She's almost got it! Showing me she is TWO!

After the play place we met Allen for lunch at 5 Guys. Ems loves fries and ketchup so it was a perfect lunch destination for her.

Later that night we had dinner and cake. She had no idea what to do with the candles so the kids had to help her blow them out!

 A close up of the cake (this was the fastest cake in the history of the world!)

What can I say about Emery?! Holy cow I love this girl to pieces. She is so attached to me and while it should be getting old by now, I love that she still loves me best. She loves to sit on my lap and for me to hold her. Her favorite thing in the world is being read to. We read stacks of books every day before her nap and then again before bedtime. Her favorite books are animal books, touch n feel books and any book that she can point to the pictures and say the words. Emery also loves to color and can keep herself occupied for a long time with a coloring book and crayons. I usually give her a pad of paper and pencil in the car and it keeps her totally happy.

It appears we have another girly girl on our hands. Emery loves to have her hair done and asks for a bow every day. In fact, most nights she sleeps with a bow in her hair since she cries if we take it out. She also loves to have her toes painted and wear jewelry and dress up clothes. She loves to push her babies around in strollers and "feed" them. She loves bath time and would stay in for a really long time if we would let her.

Emery is saying tons of words. I was really worried about her lack of talking a few months ago but her language has exploded over the past few months. One of my favorite things is how she says each family members name. Most nights when we kneel down to pray she walks around and taps us on our heads  and says our names. It's adorable. She is stringing 2-3 words together regularly. She also loves to jump on the trampoline and stands by the door and yells "JUMP" until someone takes her outside to the tramp. Emery's other great love is dancing. She is so stinking cute when she dances. She stands below our iPod docking station and points to it and cries until we turn music on. She has a few favorite songs and wants us to play them over and over again. She gets so excited when one of her favorites comes on the radio. She also loves to go to nursery at church. She hated it at first but now she wants to go as soon as we walk into the church building.  She gives the best kisses and hugs and is really patient with the kids who STILL fight over her. We love this girl so stinking much and can't imagine our family or world without her!!

Giveaway WINNER!

Hi friends! Sorry for the delay in the giveaway - we celebrated a couple of birthdays last week and that kept me busy! Thanks so much for all the comments and all the fun new products that I get to try. So fun to see so many friends comment! So without further delay, the winner is:

JANENE

I'll pop that in the mail later this week. Thanks again for playing along! I have another fun giveaway that I'm getting ready for early March so come back soon!

Addie is 5!

I can't believe my little gal is 5 years old! This girl makes me so happy and warms my heart every single day. She seems so much older in recent months and is developing into such a fun, spunky and interesting little person! 

We started her birthday a little bit early when we were able to go to the mall together one afternoon a few days before her birthday. The original plan was to go to the American Girl store to look at the dolls but since we were there and just the two of us she decided to get her ears pierced! We were going to go on her birthday but the timing was perfect so we did it a few days early.  She was very surprised when the first ear was pierced and  it hurt more than she was expecting but she was very brave and did not cry at all. She loves her new earrings! 

On her actual birthday we got up early and had breakfast and then opened presents.

 Addison was SO excited to get her own American Girl doll. After spending more than an hour at the store looking at all the dolls I was THRILLED when she picked out Saige, the new girl of the year. I did not influence her decision at all but we both love that she is from New Mexico and that she has such a fun story. She also got Saige's accessories and some Barbie princess movies. Allen's mom sent her a pretty temple necklace and my parents sent her a fun AG tea set and girl/doll apron and cooking set. She was so happy with her gifts and she has played with her doll non-stop. It has been so fun to see the girls play with their dolls and really enjoy them together.

For breakfast Addie picked Nutella/banana/pudding crepes and apple cinnamon donut muffins. Yummy!

 Addie wanted to go swimming on her birthday so I took her to the gym to swim that afternoon. We had a very busy rest of the day but were able to go to Panera bread for her birthday dinner. She loves their Mac n Cheese. Since we had sports practices that night we even had her cake at the restaurant. Overall she had a wonderful day and loved her gifts, activities and meals.  (excuse the post-swimming hair in this picture).

Addison is such a joy to be around. She has a real zest for life and has such a happy personality.  She really, really loves preschool and has made some cute friends there this year. Her favorite activity is art time and her teacher often comments on how precise and careful she is with her projects. She loves to draw, paint and create at home too. Addie is doing great academically - she is starting to sound out words and is very interested in the reading process. She always tries to figure out what letter words start with. It is exciting to see her mind expanding so rapidly. Addie also loves her gymnastics and swimming classes and asks every day if she can have a playdate with her friends.

Addison's other great love is being read to. It is not unusual for her to bring me stacks of books to read to her in the afternoon while Emery is napping. She will not go to bed at night unless we have read several books. Addison is a great big sister to Emery. Those two are as thick as thieves and we have to separate them at night or they stay up giggling and laughing with each other. Most mornings when I go to get Emery out of her crib, Addison is snuggled up with her inside the crib. Addie was the first name Emery knew in our family. One of the cutest things about Addie is that every time she prays she prays that our family will "always stick together." It's adorable. She LOVES to pray and gives very comprehensive, detailed, LONG prayers that crack us up.

Addie is still teeny tiny. I am still buying her size 4 pants and having to cinch them in all the way on both sides. She is not nearly as picky a eater as she was a few years ago and salad is now one of her most favorite foods. We laugh that she has a discerning palate and has preferences similar to an adult. She still loves fancy cheeses, chips and guacamole, edamame and really good bread. She is super picky about sweets and refuses to each cheap chocolate or any desserts that are not up to her standards. Addie loves to talk to her grandparents on the phone and will carry on lengthy conversations with them. She is a total social butterfly and likes to have lots of friends. Every single day I'm so glad I get to be her mom and love all that she adds to our family!

Stuff I love - beauty edition

Do you guys have the mid-winter blues too? We've had an unusually sunny winter so far and now that the rain has come back with a vengeance I'm pretty bummed. I need to see the sun - and soon! So as a distraction I thought I'd highlight a few of my favorite beauty products and there is a GIVEAWAY at the end!

BB Cream:

Have you guys been using this? It's a combination moisturizer/sunscreen/foundation product. It's seriously my favorite product ever and available at all price points. I've tried a few and Dr. Jart ($34) is my favorite but is more pricey so I tried the Garnier ($10) and it works well too! It gives my skin such a pretty glow and I even use it in place of my morning moisturizer!

Essie Polishes:

I have been trying to do more nails at home instead of at a salon and these are my favorite polishes. Right now I'm loving this copper penny color, it's kind of a rose-y gold and so pretty. I like to finish nails off with Seche Vite dry fast top coat. This is especially handy if you have girls who love to have their nails done too. I get my polishes at Target.

Naked Palletes:

Allen got me the Naked Palletes for Christmas and I cannot say enough about my love for them. The eye shadows are neutral but they are so pretty and there a ton of eye makeup tutorials out there using these. I have tried some really fun combinations and there seem to be endless options even with neutrals. He picked mine up at Ulta but I know Sephora carries these too.

Trader Joe's Honey Mango Cream Shave:

I've got to say that I generally hate shaving products. They make my skin super itchy and irritated so I have just used bar soap to shave for years and years. A couple years ago a friend recommended the TJ cream shave. I was super skeptical but since it is cheap (about $4) I thought I'd give it a shot. I LOVE this stuff!! It smells great and is super moisturizing and does not irritate my skin. What's not to love about Trader Joe's?

Foot File:

A few years ago my friend Mindy told me she'd never had a pedicure. I couldn't believe it and thought she must have some great secret to keeping her feet in good shape on her own. For my birthday that year she sent me a package that included a foot file and recommended that I use it every day after my shower. I couldn't believe it but it worked miracles on my feet. I think the key is to use it every single day. This is a very inexpensive product (about $3 at Target) that gives great results!

So there you go! A few of my current favorite go-to products. Leave a comment with a beauty product you love and I'll enter you into the Giveaway and maybe help you ward off some mid-winter blues. Included in  your package will be a bottle of the TJ shave cream, a foot file, a bottle of Essie polish, my favorite lipgloss and I'll probably sneak in some  yummy chocolate too! I'll leave comments open until Friday (Feb. 1)

Carter is 10!

Carter celebrated his 10th birthday last week! I can hardly believe that I've been a mother for a decade! We started the birthday celebrations the weekend before his birthday. As usual, he wanted to go to breakfast for his birthday so we had to go a few days before so we could do it on a Saturday. We went to a local place called The Maltby Cafe that was highly recommended. The food was amazing. Carter got a huge pancake breakfast - 4 pancakes, 4 scrambled eggs, 6 pieces of bacon and OJ. He ate the entire thing! He has turned into a typical boy bottomless pit with food the past few months.

The girls got yummy food too but especially loved their HUGE servings of hot chocolate. Allen got eggs benedict california style (with fresh tomato and avocado) and I got blackberry crepes with creme fraiche (where have you been all my life?!)

His actual birthday was on Tuesday. We woke up and had strawberry Nutella crepes for breakfast and then opened his presents before school.

He got a Broncos hat and invention kit from my parents, some scouting things from Allen's mom and a few treats, a Madden xbox game and an iPod touch from us. He's been wanting an iPod for a few years and we finally relented this year. I have very mixed feelings about taking this step and we have lots of rules in place regarding it but we have LOTS of travel coming up this year and we thought it would be a great for him to have during our trips. He was thrilled!

 After school he had piano lessons but we let him skip basketball practice so he could stay home and play with his new stuff. He requested his favorite chicken dish and chocolate eclair cake for dinner.

 Carter is such a fun and interesting kid to be the parent of. His curiosity knows no bounds and he is always excited to learn about and try new things. Sometimes I think he has NO fear of anything and he is anxious to try everything. He is very talkative and will talk your ear off about things that are interesting to him - especially sports, video games, books he reads and the places he wants to travel to. He is really polite and can carry on a conversation with anyone. Carter still has A LOT of initiative to do things on his own. Earlier this year he decided to read the Book of Mormon on the same schedule as Allen and the YM. He actually finished well before Allen did without ever receiving any prodding from us. He loves to play, watch and talk about all sports. He got really into football this year and loved watching games and talking strategy with Allen. He played soccer this fall after taking a couple years off and really loved the game and got really competitive. He is playing basketball this winter and is enjoying that too. He still loves to play the piano and is getting ready to participate in a competition this spring. He is only one level behind me and is getting so good! It is so fun to watch the years of lessons and practicing pay off! Carter loves to read and is doing well in school and loves to hang with his friends. He recently started chess club and is learning lots of good strategy and loves playing games when he can rope one of his parents into it.

Carter's great ambition is to become an anesthesiologist and he talks about going to medical school all the time. He is always trying to rope us into to taking him on trips and begs to go to some exotic location almost every day. It is hilarious! He still LOVES to tease his sisters and it sometimes drives me crazy! He is still super competitive but is getting better with sportsmanship a little bit at a time. We are incredibly grateful for the bright spirit that Carter is and the energy he brings to our family. We are grateful that he loves his sisters and stands up for them when needed. We love watching him grow up to be a great young man!

2013

(My quick display I threw together after I felt my house was naked but that is was too soon to put up Valentines day stuff)

I'm a couple weeks late but Happy 2013 anyway! I've done my recap of the previous year for the past 5 years but I'm going to skip it this year. I've spent a lot of time thinking about 2012 and how I would answer all of the questions that I normally do at the end of each year and honestly I feel like I'm still PROCESSING all that happened in 2012. I just can't bring myself to organize my thoughts and feelings enough to verbalize  how I feel about the year. It was a doozy in so many ways.

I'm a big believer in setting resolutions or goals at the beginning of each year. We always set resolutions growing up and it has carried over into my adult life. Last week we spent our FHE time reviewing our 2012 goals and setting new goals for 2013. Looking back we had a pretty good year. I broke up my goals into different categories and it worked well for me. Here are my goals and how well I did (or didn't) do accomplishing them.

Health

• Lose remaining baby weight - I did this BUT I ended up gaining some of my weight back. Blech. 
• Floss daily - DONE (I can't floss when I'm pregnant so I had gotten out of the habit)
• Run a 5K - Did not do

Spirituality

• Read the BOM twice- DONE - I timed it so I would finish the 2nd time on December 31 which was an awesome way to finish the year
• Attend the temple every month - I got 10/12 months so I feel really good about this one (moving/single parenting for 3 months account for the 2 months I didn't make it)
• Read Thomas S. Monson's biography - DONE I loved it so much that I also read another book by him "Faith Endures"

Education

• Take a photography course - Did not do

Habit 

• Stop swearing - DONE - yep I'm putting it out there for the whole internet world to see. I've had a bit of a problem swearing over the years- not a ton but enough that I know it's a BAD habit that I knew was so un-classy. So... I told my kids I would drink a shot of Tabasco sauce if I said a bad word. Well, that was the motivation I needed and I completely broke my bad habit. The only reason I'm sharing this is because I never thought I could break this habit but I put my mind to it and found a good motivator and got it done. Turning weaknesses into strengths one bad habit at a time :)

So I guess 2012 had mixed results with my goals. I had a couple more that I will keep private that I did accomplish. I've thought long and hard about what I wanted to accomplish in 2013. Here's a few:

Health

• Lose that extra weight AGAIN. 
• Run a 5K (this is a family goal too)

Spirituality

• Read the D&C and the BOM
• Attend the temple 6 times this year (I had to set a realistic goal due to Allen's crazy work hours and YM responsibilities)

Education

• Do Project 365/Project Life again. I did not do it last year (after having done it the previous 3 years) and I totally regret it. I even have my 365 blog back up and running (click the link on the right side of the page to get there)
• Get my younger girls baby books done
• Take an adult dance class

Habit

• Drink 100 oz of water every day

Family/Household

• Better meal planning - try once a month cooking (I did this last week and I'll do a blog post about it soon but I am LOVING it so far)
• Spend 15 minutes of quality alone time with each child every day

I feel like this is enough to keep me motivated without making me feel overwhelmed. I also decided to choose a word for the year. After a lot of thought I have chosen the word BRAVE.  My goal is to try lots of new things this year and not be afraid. I've already tried a few new classes at the gym this year and have signed up for a dance class that starts in a few weeks. I have other ways that I am planning to incorporate being BRAVE into my life this year! Stay tuned!!

Read in 2012

I'm back with my list of the books I read in 2012. It was another great reading year for me and there were so many books I didn't even get to. As in past years I've starred my favorite books and bolded the selections from  my book club. Unfortunately I have not tracked down a book club here in Seattle and just might have to start my own. I miss my ABQ book club immensely!

The Invisible Bridge*

Secret Daughter*

Little Women*

Heaven is for real

Miss Peregrines home for Peculiar children

The night circus*

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle*

Caleb's Crossing

Heaven is Here (Stephanie Nielson Memoir)

Dreams of Joy
The Kitchen House*
To The Rescue (President Monson Biography)*
11/22/63*
The Paris Wife*
The Language of Flowers *
The Madonnas of Leningrad
Garden Spells
The Dovekeepers
Defending Jacob
A Walk Across the Sun
Gone Girl
Fall of Giants*
The Lost Wife*
The ExPats
The Brothers (Great and Terrible 1)
Where Angels Fall (G&T 2)
The Second Sun (G&T 3)
Fury and Light (G&T 4)
From the End of Heaven (G&T 5)
Clear as the Moon (G&T 6)

(A note about this series - I personally did not think the writing was very good and some of the content was a little too overt for me but the ideas were so interesting and terrifying that I had to finish. I read all 6 books in less than 2 weeks so it did keep my interest.)
Divergent
What Alice Forgot*
Edenbrooke*
City of Thieves
Faith Endures*
The White Queen
Age of Miracles*
The Red Queen

Fever 1793

Let me know if you have any questions or leave a comment with one of your favorites this year. I'm always looking for recommendations. And I do get asked this EVERY year but no, I will not be updating my list on Goodreads ;)

Christmas Day

Christmas morning arrived and once again we were waiting for our kiddos to wake up. I think everyone was finally awake at about 8 a.m. I keep thinking one of these years we will have a crazy early wakeup call like I did when I was a kid but so far my kiddos are kind and like to sleep in too.

Before opening gifts:

 I don't have any pictures of the great unwrapping frenzy but suffice it to say, everyone was thrilled with their gifts and my house was totally trashed by the end. I took a picture of everyone with their gifts.

Carter received an xbox, a kinect and a bunch of games and specialty controllers (all free from work!!!!), the Fabelhaven book series, another BYU jersey, tshirt and helmet, a Minecraft tshirt, a craft book, treats/movies/board games

 Trying to teach grandpa how to play the new Kinect:

 Kenna got a karaoke machine (best gift EVER - seriously), American Girl doll clothes, books, clothes/accessories, a new thermos for school, movies/games/treats and the McKenna AG outfit for herself (which she has worn almost constantly since then), Bath and Body works set

Singing away at karaoke (this has been her best gift ever!)

 Addison got a bunch of new princess dress-up outfits, girly Lego sets, books/movies/treats/games, Magformers

The Tangled wedding dress has been on her wish list for MONTHS:

 Little Ems got the Disney Little People Princess Castle, princess sets, a bubble machine, princess shoes, Magformers,stuffed animals, books/movies/treats

Allen and I randomly found this singing Santa pig at Lowe's while out running errands and she has loved, loved, loved that thing to death. It could start getting annoying if she didn't love it so  much and laugh in delight every time it started to sing. I must say she is at the most charming age right now and it is so fun to see her get so excited about little things!

Santa also brought the kids Mentos and bottles of diet coke to use to set off explosions. Big, big hit and lots of fun to see the quick reactions:

 We spent the rest of the day hanging out in our pjs, eating way too much junk, playing with new toys, talking to extended family, watching movies and even catching a quick nap on the couch! I didn't want to spend the day cooking so we had lots of leftovers from the day before and were able to just enjoy being together.