Colorado Weekend Trip

Cousin Zach asked us if we wanted to join him in Colorado at his uncle's cabin. We agreed months before the actual weekend. Most people bailed out. But not us! (Hey, vacation!) It's a long drive. But this is the "cabin" we stayed in.... Some cabin, huh?



Dining hall...
And kitchen. Fully stocked. Except for muffin tins. Geesh. How inconvenient!!
Oh, and a playhouse complete with a box of puppets.
And a prison wagon. This guy thinks of everything!
And a pond. FULLY stocked with fish. We spent hours and hours and hours fishing.
Jake caught many with a net (I lost count after 12 in one day.)
And several with a pole.

We caught fish...
After fish...


After. Yeah. I caught nothing. Which is why I don't like to fish. All that work and I get pond grass.

Which is why I would rather sit and read my book.. (while Papa fishes behind me. Just clarifying. This photo could suggest otherwise!)The girls needed baths nightly cause they smelled like fish.
We even had a fish fry one night! I have to say it was good - but I was still a little queesy from watching the boys gut and fillet the fish. I just can't handle that. Kind of gross.

Someone had even put a fish in the fountain in the front of the cabin. They spent hours trying to rescue it. They finally succeded using a volleyball net.
Then they rushed it down to the pond to release it to its friends. I'm sure that fish is happy now!

Uncle Bud has over 480 acres of property, including a pond in the upper portion of the property. And he lets his neighbor place their horses there. It was a beautiful sight!


The fall leaves were stunning this time of year. I think we planned the perfect time to come!

It was such a fun, relaxing weekend. I ate, read, slept, attempted to fish, hiked and paddled. It was over too soon and we are ready to go back to the beauty!
It was a fun time had by all!

Princess Tea Party

You know what I love about raising girls? Everything is glamorous, beautiful and fluffy. So when the first annual "Princess Tea Party" was advertised, it was a no brainer. We were going. We had to. These beautiful princesses were more then excited for the big day. The hard part, however, was deciding what to wear. In a "packing frenzy" I had mistakenly packed their entire collection of dress up clothes. Kind of hard to imagine considering it was a LARGE box and very hard to missplace. Nonetheless, it happened. And now we have absolutely "nothing to wear." Tragic, I know.

The Princess Tea Party was scheduled for Saturday morning. We arrived at the gardens of the Art Museum. We were greated by princesses and usured to our table by charming princeses.

Then we visited several stations:
The finger nail station (which was PERFECT because Queen Jen forgot to paint a certain three-year-old's nail's.) Addy chose pink (surprise!) and Juliana chose purple (surprise. Really.)
Then we had our photo taken in the magical flowers (Juliana's is already lost...)

And then to story time, where a beautiful queen read us a story about Cinderella.
And finally, we made a special frame to go with our photo. However, by the time we got there, we ended up with a bunch of reject letters from the foamy packet. Ya Ya was upset, but Addy ended up with syrdishf. It worked for her!!!

Finally, we were able to sit and enjoy a lovely brunch of cream puffs, fruit and punch. Then each princess was escorted down the isle where she was introduced to the rest of us. We had to fill out a card that stated their age and things they like to do. Both girls were beaming (and photos were taken by a neighbor. Haven't seen those yet!)

Finally, each princess was given a nickel to make a wish in the wishing fountain.


It was such a fun morning spent with my girls! I am overwhelmed at their beauty (both inside and out) and kindness toward others. I had no idea being a mother to girls would be so much fun!

Tea Party Fun!

Last Easter I made the girl's Easter Dresses. I love to sew - just don't have a lot of spare time, you know? Well, I had great intentions of taking their photos in their dresses. Even scheduled it twice, but had to cancel do to other conflicts. I finally thought, "I'll try it myself" and if it didn't work, I'd just hire it. Well - there is a reason you HIRE this stuff done! I took over 200 photos. And about three worked! Thanks to my trusty companion and generous Aunt Carole who gave the girls chocolate to bribe a few smiles (we did them in her yard), we managed not to kill each other in the "photo shoot." But I was happy enough with the outcomes to not pay the $150 - I'll save that for when the new baby comes.

Enjoy photos of my darling girls!

Funny Sayings I want to Remember

Addy and Ya Ya were sharing their favorite Jesus stories while they were supposed to go to bed. Ya Ya was telling how a woman touched the hem of Jesus's shirt and she was all "heeled up."

Addy asked what that meant, but before waiting for an answer got on her tippy toes and said, "Oh hey! I'm all HEELED UP too!"


Ya Ya: (In a totally agigated voice) "MOM! Jake called me stupid AND I saw a humming bird!"
(That would be TWO seperate points, my daughter!)

Ya Ya has a problem with moisture. She hates, hates, hates to be wet. Anywhere. Including "down there." We towel off for about 6-7 minutes after baths and showers, which doesn't go so well when I am trying to get her to hurry for school (which, causes more anxiety because she hates to be late.) One morning, I was rushing her too fast, I guess, because we didn't get all the moisture off her privates. After she was dressed and I was doing hair, she started digging and whining. Then she started sobbing, "WHY?! WHY!? WHY?!!! WHY DO I HAVE THIS PROBLEM!!!???" Slightly dramatic. I can think of worse problems!

Finally, I was at a wedding and my brothers were tending. Jake was heading to bed but stopped to pour a rather large glass of milk. Both of my brothers said, "Jake, do you think your mom wants to drink that much milk before bedtime?"

Patting his "goodnight" night time pants (yep, still have a problem) he said, "Oh don't worry guys, this thing holds A LOT of water!" (Kinda questioning the "need" now!)

I love being a mom! I couldn't ask for a greater blessing!

Back to School

We moved in with my parents starting the end of August. I had one very agitated eight year old, a nervous 5 year old and happy three year old (un-phased by the whole transition!) So I was MORE THAN READY for school to start and develop a routine for my oldest. He certainly needed it! (And so did I!) For the first time in my entire adult life, I felt absolutely NO sadness when school starts. (Which is very abnormal for me!)

But with the move, we were now going to attend a brand new school. When you have attended one school for more than half your life, you can expect to be nervous! We went over the "what if's" several times. Finally the big day arrived!

My heart filled with joy as I watched my sweet baby boy walk SO bravely up the sidewalk into a new school where he knew no one. Oh, I was proud. I knew how hard it was for him.

When I went to pick him up, traffic was a mess. I didn't know the rules or systems either! I arrived about 8 minutes before the bell. I quickly parked and tried to find him - but I was too late. By the time I finally found him, he was in tears. I felt terrible. We quickly went over the pick-up routine and settled all fears. School became easier as the days went on and now he already has friends and knows the "ins and outs" of the school.

Ya Ya didn't start until the next week. She's my normal worrywart, but for some reason, she wasn't even scared. She was more scared she would forget the class room routine (as explained later) that she went over the steps daily with me. Both so she wouldn't forget and I wouldn't forget to remind her!

The day finally came! My little scheduler changed her hairstyle at the last minute (which I thought was so spontaneous of her!) And she looked beautiful.

We made it school WELL before we needed to (she worried the entire ride over that we would be late!) But we had plenty of time to take photos. She was so excited that I couldn't even cry. I sure wanted to - I HATE dropping off my babies the first day. Whether they are in Kindergarten or Third Grade!
We followed the routine precicely. Step 1: Hang up the backpack.
Step 2: wash our hands
Step 3: Sit on the carpet.
I loved the idea a fellow cousin gave me, so we hurried to the florist to purchase a flower to celebrate Ya Ya's first day. Plan didn't quite go over as well as I thought! I really thought she would be so exicted, but instead she was ultra-embarrassed that she was the only one getting flowers. Fine with Addy - she loves pink and got to keep the flower she picked out!
Successful first day, I'd say!

I'm back! AGAIN!

I have to admit, I don't place this as a priority (yeah, obviously.) If I have a spare minute, then I want to head to the sewing room to finish the twirl skirts I started a week ago, or finish my book club book or do a page or two of digital scrapbooking.

But then I read my sister-in-law's blog, my cousin's etc, etc and I think of what a great job they are doing to preserve these precious memories. I get motivated once again and start writing. My eldest loves to read my blog - he laughs and calls me in to remind of a funny instance. Or he'll come and ask me why I wrote something I did. I realized this isn't really for me. It isn't for my "audience", it's for me, my children and my ever-failing memory.

So, while I can't go back and fill in, I'll recap:

Summer 2010:
Probably the worst summer of my life. And that is being honest. It wasn't relaxing, I didn't do anything on my bucket list and I stressed from the moment it started until it ended. That would mostly have to do with three life-altering experiences: Girls Camp Leader (under an incredibly stressed, micromanaging leader), being pregnant and selling a house in a failing economy. Any one of those experiences would be enough to cause stress. Add all three and I was a basket case. So much, in fact, that my hair started falling out and my right eye started twitching. Both case, as confirmed by my doctor, were stress related. Eye is normal now and hair has stopped falling out like a cancer patient. I feel good. I feel relaxed and I feel normal. Again.

So that explains a lot, right? I'm gonna just start from the now and hope for the best!

The Glow Play

Let me start at the very beginning (a VERY good place to start!)

It was fall; the start of another school year. Mrs. L had a list of positions within the classroom that needed filled with happy volunteers. The only option open was "Music Leader." This particular position was, for the previous year, a simple, half-hour-a-week commitment. Basically, I thought, I would go in, bang a few sticks together, call it rhythm and go about my day.

HA! Not. Quite. So. Apparently (and it would have been wonderful to have known this before the school year) the BEEP grade puts on a class play. A musical, to be exact. Pair that with a high strung teacher and it spelled STRESS. We started learning all the songs in January and started rehearsing in March. Mrs. L thinks Jake is the smartest in the class (well, she might not have said that exactly :)..) and appointed him as Flier, the lead role. Normally, I would have bragged all about that, except, that meant more effort from me- the producer!


The play is about a little firefly that was blown away by the wind when he was hatched. He didn't know what his job in the world was. He met a ladybug that shows him that everyone has a special job. He finally finds out what his special job is at the very end. It's a cute play with a cute message.
It was HOURS, and HOURS and HOURS of work. I ended up taking Addy to most of the practices. By the time we performed, she knew every single song! It is so cute to watch her coloring while singing, "Everybody's Got a Place!" Jake did absolutely amazing. I am so impressed that he memorized that entire play. Maybe he IS the smartest in the class! :)

I have tried to post the video. It must be too long. I'll try breaking it up just in case you want to see it! ;)

Easter Dresses

I am so far behind, it isn't even funny. I don't know where to start with the excuses, or where to start with the photos!! (I will post Cozumel, that's coming up.)

I decided I wanted to make the girls Easter dresses this year. I LOVE sewing - I just have too many hobbies I want to do and not enough time to do them. But the dresses - SO FUN! I just loved making them. I tried really hard to get a photo with the two girls, but Adalyn decided photos are overrated. So you get only one of my gorgeous daughters!

The Royal Ball

Once Upon a Time in a far away land, lived two very beautiful princesses that shared a very special birthday together.

Princess Adalyn, 3

Princess Juliana, 5

The time came for them to celebrate their birthday. It was a glorious spring day! (HA! If you call 40 degrees, glorious!)

The baker spent all week choosing the cake and decorating it into a beautiful castle. (Only to discover that the cake needs more than four anchors if we wish to keep it standing longer than one hour.)

The beautiful princesses were whisked away to an enchanted beauty college to prepare their hair and nails for the Royal Ball. The Royal assistant (Mimi) escorted the lovely princesses in her beautiful white chariot. Upon arrival, the princesses were pampered to their hearts content. The Royal Assistant was told to tip the Royal hairdressers, but misunderstood the Queens instructions. What should have been an inexpensive, enchanted "updo" and "manicure" (normally $6 per princess) cost a grand total of $30 royal dollars!!!

The Royal Assistant is in the dungeon now, awaiting execution.... Back to the story:




At last, the Royal Ball was beginning! Each Royal quest was greeted by a Charming Joker and Prince Charming.



Not to mention, the wonderful King himself! (I love my parents, they totally rented this costume on their own when I mentioned that I would like Dad to read the princesses names at the Royal Ball! How sweet!)

Upon arrival, the princes and princesses decorated their own crowns, played pass the glass slipper and rescue the princess. Then they entered the dining room for the Grand Feast of cake, raspberry soda and fruit kabobs before the royal ball.


After eating (and spilling several glasses of soda), the Royal Ball Began!!!

Each princess was introduced by the King himself and escorted down the stairs and into the dancing hall by a charming prince.

Prince Charming took the lovely princesses into his arms and danced the first dance to Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman (a real tear jerker, if you have girls!)
Then we cut the sentimental stuff and "jam, pumped it up" to Miley Cyrus, Hananna Montana and Disney Mania. Those kids can dance! The ball lasted longer than anticipated and hit a climax when prince charming released a net full of balloons to the ground!

But, Oh NO! A Dragon! (No princess story is complete without one!) The prince and princesses all had their hand at slaying the dragon!
Princess Juliana even acted the part and showed her amazement when cousin Mosiah (dressed in his finest dancing attire) attacked the dragon with pure courage!

Finally, the beast surrendered, lost a wing and distributed candy to the cold Royal Party.
The two beautiful princesses sat on their Royal thrones and opened many generous gifts bestowed to their royalty.
But alas! That is not all! For a final surprise, a beautiful princess from a far off land (Draper) came to visit the party and tell the children of her enchanting tales! She read a book about three daring knights seeking the hand of a princess. Each princess was enthralled as they asked questions. And yes, Princess Ashli does know all the princesses. In fact, Ariel is her cousin! Imagine that!
All the princesses were jealous that Princess Ashli knew Adalyn and Juliana. They wish she could come to all their parties. But she's a busy princess and may not have time for all of them. Just the special ones... ;)

It was time for the Royal Ball to end.

Each prince left with a shiny foam sword and a goodie bag. The princesses left with a beautiful tiara, a princess pencil and candy. And the princesses lived happily ever after. The queen did too, but went to bed exhausted...