December 31, 2013. Happy New Year!

We had so much fun celebrating New Years with the kids. Like last year I put together some activities and put them in a paper bag. The kids took turns opening them every hour. We had so much fun. Some of the highlights included ice cream sundaes, dance parties, hide and seek (my favorite of the night), resolutions, and ringing in the New Year with a toast and some party poppers! The kids loved staying up until midnight (we set the clocks forward 2 hours) and I loved celebrating with them! I'm sure it won't be too much longer before they would rather be with their friends.

Although 2013 was a difficult year, it was also a year filled with many blessings. I'm grateful for those blessings, and most of all grateful for my family. They are everything. I am one lucky wife and momma!

Happy New Year!

December 7, 2013. Christmas Stories.

I like to read Christmas stories under the light of the Christmas tree. This year we happened to do it on a night Collin and Logan were racing so they missed out on the fun! I love making memories with my kiddos!

June 29, 2013. Fun at Station Park!

The fun outdoor shopping mall near our house had a grand opening for some of its stores a couple of weekends ago. I had heard that they were going to have Merida from the movie Brave and Iron Man there as part of their celebration. I thought it would be fun to take the kids but was a little hesitant because I was worried it was going to be so crowded. But we decided to go anyway. I am glad that we did. There was hardly anyone there and the kids loved every second of it. We might as well have told the girls that we were going to Disneyland. They were stoked! Sophie just had to bring her bear from the movie and she even printed out and colored a picture for Merida to sign. After we met the characters, we treated the kids to some candy from the fun new candy shop, watched a dog show, had our faces painted, met some neat reptiles, and got balloon animals. Such a fun afternoon!

slip n slide!

One thing the kids have been really enjoying this Summer has been the slip n slide! This time was especially fun because they got to use the slip n slide that Sophie won in the coloring contest. They thought it was so fun to see if they could slide under the limbo bar on its lowest height without knocking it off. They got pretty good! Cute Ruby isn't quite sure of the whole sliding thing yet and chooses to crawl instead. And little Lyla prefers to watch and cheer the kids on! We are loving our Summer afternoons!!!

June 18, 2013. Ice Cream in a Bag!

In an effort to do some fun structured activities with the kids this Summer, we made some ice cream in a bag. I'll be honest, I thought they would LOVE it, but they didn't. They thought it was fun, but not really fun. And shaking that bag was HARD work after a while. In the end, Sophie was the only one that liked her ice cream. But hey, it got them off the couch and away from the TV for a little bit!

March 30, 2013. Dying Eggs!!

The kids were so excited to dye eggs. Especially Ruby. She has been asking everyday for several weeks now. They had a great time! I am always amazed at how quickly the whole process is. In the end, their hands are dyed just as much as their eggs!! Lyla wasn't into dying her eggs as much as she was into eating them!

Dying eggs was hard work...so everyone settled down to watch Hop afterwards! Love these 5 people more than anything!

March 17th, 2013. St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day was a lot of fun this year! Our day started off with pancakes! But not just any ordinary pancakes. Green pancakes with Lucky Charm marshmallows in them. Oh! And whip cream! They were a hit! Soon after that I put together a quick little scavenger hunt. The kids loved it and had a blast running from clue to clue to find  their very own pot of gold. 

Earlier in the week, Sophie had put together a Leprechaun trap and was eagerly awaiting a visit from a Leprechaun. I wasn't planning on any visits from little green men this year, but after returning from church and seeing the disappointment on her face I knew that one would be visiting soon! He left some cute little green footprints and a small treat! The kids were in heaven and so surprised! I love experiencing life through their eyes!

Valentines

The kids had a blast putting together their Valentines for their friends at school.  It's amazing how something so simple can take up the whole afternoon! The kids loved it though. This was Ruby's first time putting together Valentine's and she wasn't quite sure she wanted to give any away!  It was a good thing that there were more in the box than there were kids in her class.  She immediately went to work designing outfits for the little paper dolls!

Such a fun afternoon!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ringing in the New Year!

New Years Eve this year was such a blast.  Probably one of the best I have had in a long time.  It was spent at home with the kiddos and was pretty low key, but oh so much fun! The whole night was a little last minute for me. Had I planned it more in advance I might have picked up a few things that would have made it more festive. Because I am that way. Not because it needed it!  Next year I'm thinking a balloon drop at midnight!!! 

I set the clocks forward two hours so the kids thought they were staying up until midnight, but in reality, they only stayed up until ten.  A win win! They got to stay up late, and I still got to enjoy some alone time with Logan.  I created six activities for the kids to do and put them each in a paper bag. Every hour the kids got to open a bag and do the activity!  So easy, but so exciting!

At 7:00 we created noisemakers to shake at midnight. Paper plates, markers, and dried beans.  So simple but so much fun! They were a hit!

At 8:00 we made cookies and drank hot cocoa.  I prepared the dough earlier in the day so all the kids had to to was put them on the cookie sheets, wait a few minutes for them to bake, and enjoy!  They were yummy!!!

 At 9:00 we watched a movie.  I tried to rent one earlier that day, but every single family friendly movie at the local Redbox was rented so we watched one that we got for Christmas.  The kids were happy and enjoyed the movie and popcorn! Even York got in on the action!

At 10:00 we had a dance party!!!  The kids LOVE to turn off the lights, push the table to the side of the room, and get their groove on! So much fun!!!

At 11:00 we each created 4 goals for the New Year.  I was surprised how much the kids enjoyed doing this.  They came up with some great goals!

And at 12:00 Midnight, we rang in the New Year with a toast and shook our noise makers we made earlier that night.  The kids ran around like crazies and thought they were the coolest kids ever for staying up until midnight!  

 I sure do love these guys and am so grateful for the blessed year we had and look forward to spending another great year together!

Happy New Year!

November 25, 2012.

 Christmas stories read by the tree. It was special, and fun! Here is to holiday memories!!

Meet York

Well we did it!  After months and months of pleading and begging from Sophie we finally got a puppy! Both Logan and I thought we would never have another dog again but we just felt Sophie should really have one!  The things you do for your kids!! They all adore him. The poor guy has barely seen the floor since we brought him home! 

We surprised the kids with him yesterday. They had no idea! It was so fun watching them. Sophie couldn't believe it.  And Ruby wasn't scared at all.  I was the most worried about her. She is so afraid of dogs but has taken to York so well and loves petting him! Collin has taken the longest to warm up to him but I think he likes him as well! He sure is cute and well loved! Now if we can just get the potty training thing down...