Evening of Art

Several weeks ago, Brooklyn came home from school with a note explaining that there was going to be an "Evening of Art" (our school changed from a PTA to a PTO this year and this is to replace the Reflections contest.) Brooklyn told me that she wanted to draw a picture and enter it in. The theme for the event was "Treasure" we talked about what different types of treasures were and I told her to think about what she wanted to draw. She immediately told me that her best treasure was her family. Sniff Sniff. She came up with that by herself and I am so proud of her for realizing that over her toys, her DS, her scooter, etc. her family is her greatest treasure. She sat down to draw the picture- she started over once- and came up with her piece titled, "My Family is my Greatest Treasure." Thursday night was the event it started at 6:30 and at 5:30 she tells me that she is going in to get dressed in her Christmas dress because she needed to look really nice. I told her that I thought that what she wore to school would be just fine, but she insisted on her dress. She got all dolled up and then patiently waited for her daddy to get home from work so we could head up to the school. She found Grandma and was beyond thrilled when we found her picture and she noticed that she had purple ribbon- she has ALWAYS wanted one. Her other incentive for entering was that every child that entered received a free meal from Texas Road House- she was ecstatic to get that also. Texas Road House was there serving a lite meal. It was such a great event and I am so proud of Brooklyn for wanting to take part in it!

I love this picture- it shows the pure joy on her face

Her purple ribbon

"Family is my Greatest Treasure"

2 of my greatest treasures

Fun in the Snow

What do you do on a day that daddy has off and Brooklyn doesn't have school? We forget all the things that we need to do around our house before May and the baby arrives and play in the snow! We enjoy spending time together and by choice of the gals have some fun at the Fun Park.

Brooklyn going to get Sean with her snowball

Sean getting Brooklyn with his snowball

Sean and his gals

We kept trying to get a picture and Sandy kept running in the shot

Valentine's

Today has been such a great day!! Sean and I decorated the house last night to surprise the gals when they woke up. They were so excited to see the balloons and streamers. We had a fun breakfast of pink, heart-shaped pancakes. We have had so much fun with the Valentine's envelopes. The gals have been so excited every morning to see what was in there and it was fun to go down memory lane and write some of my memories to Sean and his to me. This morning the gals got to get their last Valentine item and their Valentine from Sean and I to them. They opened their presents and got a new sweater to wear. At Brooklyn's school, they have a Valentine's tea every year and so she was so excited to get all dolled up for that. After school, Brooklyn had dance and then we came home for a fun dinner that we had planned. Thanks to the Dollar Tree I had gotten some fun plates, glasses, and napkins. We got a heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphey's, had strawberries, and red Jello jigglers. Sean and I were lucky enough to go out on Friday and celebrate together. This year has been one of my favorite Valentine's- it was so fun to see how excited the gals have been. In the words of Brooklyn, "Best Valentine's EVER!!"

Little stinker- I was telling her to smile and this is the look I got. On a side note- you can't really see it in these pictures and I tried taking a picture of it, but Gracie has a lovely black eye. Her and Brooklyn were super hyper on Saturday and we had told them to settle down more than once. Well they went running into the front room and Brooklyn pushed Gracie out of the way and it cause her to fall into the couch. Right off her eye started going black. So we will just add that to the list!

Our fun Valentine's dinner. Sean bought me a rose and the gals each a flower. A tradition I hope he keeps up. My dad sent my flowers every year and it was always something I treasured!

Poor Grace

Poor Gracie has had a rough couple of weeks! She has been sick for 2 straight weeks. She ran a fever and after the 3rd day of 103 I took her to the doctor. He and I were both hoping she had Strep. Kinda sad when you are hoping your child has Strep, but at least it can be treated. It came back negative and he said she would start with a cough and runny nose. Well she didn't get it for several days and was starting to feel better so I thought we were lucky and had bypassed that. But no such luck! It hit full force and she is miserable!! Her poor no as she calls her nose, lips, and chin are all so sore and chapped. And to make matters worse, I was making some rolls one night for dinner and had the big bucket of flour sitting on a chair. She climbed up and was playing with it and helping me. She managed to get it everywhere, but was having so much fun. I walked into the other room and heard a nasty thud, it was one of those that you knew was not going to be good. She started screaming. I ran in and could not see that she was hurt anywhere- I loved her and got her happy again. She was in the kitchen again climbing up the drawers and I told her she needed to get down or she was going to get hurt. As I said that she fell and hit her chin on the counter. Of course she started bawling and said she had hit it again. I didn't think anything of it until that night I noticed something on her chin and went to clean it and found this lovely bruise! Poor thing! The next day or two it looked even worse, but I didn't get a picture. (We are hoping to have all illnesses out of the way before May arrives.)

She did like the way that it looked like a rainbow

Kinda a random picture, but grandma got all the gals matching dresses for Christmas. We finally had them all wear them on the same day and this was the best picture we could manage. They looked so cute though.

And our lives would be pretty dull without this firecracker!

Valentine's Envelope

My sister came across the cutest blog called The Crafting Chicks. On this site there was the cutest idea for Valentine Envelopes. The gal that made them saw them originally in Pottery Barn Kids and made her own. So my sister and I decided to make them for our families and I am so happy with how they turned out. It is kinda the same idea as a Christmas stocking. We put little treats or dollar store things or notes in them. The gals are so excited to wake up in the morning and see what they have gotten for the day. In Sean and I's we decided to write little notes to each other or favorite memories. It has been so fun so far and I am excited to have this be a new tradition for our family.

This is how I have them hanging. I made one for our nameless baby and decided that I better do all 3 the same so I didn't have to hear any complaining over whose was better. :)

Also hanging on the shelf but hidden is this impression of the gals hands. My good friend Rory owns a darling boutique in Logan called A Child's Touch and they do these impressions. I love it! I can't wait to get one with 3 little hand prints on it.

Fun in the Sun

Over the holiday weekend, the gals and I escaped the inversion with my mom and some of the Andie's and headed for sunny St. George. To say we had a great time would be an understatement! We were able to visit with family and friends- it was so good to see each and every one of them. We enjoyed some shopping, grandma spoiled the gals (and me) rotten! Thanks mom!!! (The gals LOVE their grandma- in fact the night we got home Gracie had a come apart when her grandma left. She bawled for quite awhile and woke up in the morning bawling because she wanted her grandma so I had to call my mom and see if we could meet during her lunch so Gracie could see her.) We enjoyed the sun- I had to buy Brooklyn a pair of flip-flops because all I brought us were our boots. The gals love going to the temple grounds and walking around and going through the visitor's center. We went on Sunday and it was delightful! The gals keep asking, "can we go back to St. George?" It was a fun get-away and probably my last until this new little baby joins our family. Thanks everyone for your help with the gals- they love you! Gracie has really turned into quite the funny little gal. She made a few classic comments during the trip that I don't think will die. My cousin Marlee was getting ready and Gracie looks at her and says, "you look terrible." And then awhile later she looked at her and said, "you look funny." So the rest of the trip we would look at each other and inform one other that they looked terrible. I guess I should start working on tact. :)

We went shopping and Gracie shopped til she dropped!

New Year's

(Way late post- but I am posting anyway.) We had our usual New Year's Eve party at my aunt Paula's house. We had good food, good treats, and good company! The gals had a blast and loved ringing in the New Year. Here's to a GREAT year!

At this point, Brooklyn had worn herself right out and was tired!

Garrett and Gracie loved "cheers"