This is the family photo I would have put on our Christmas cards had I gotten them done in time. We went to Florida with Andy's family from the 16th to the 25th. Trying to get everything ready for Christmas before we left was enough to just about put me over the edge :).  Florida was fun. We are really missing the sunshine, but so glad to be home. Traveling on Christmas day made me really homesick. The kids left Santa a note asking him to come a day late. So we had Christmas this morning. I love this time of year when we can reflect on the real reason for this holiday season, our Savior Jesus Christ. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!!!

photo by Jodi Tolman. Edited by me

And a few Drewisms I don't want to forget

* On the way to the airport Drew asks "Mom, there are like a Bzillion kids in the world, right?" I said yes and then he thinks for a moment and says "Santa must NEVER get a potty break!" hahahahaha. I swear his brain never stops thinking!

* We were getting Chicken nuggets at the McDonald's in WalMart and I told Drew that we couldn't get happy meals this time. He was sad because he really wanted the toy. He then says "Maybe I should be really nice. Sometimes people give you stuff when you are nice." (I don't know where he came up with that). I started placing our order and he looks at the cashier and says "You guys are all really good cookers back there" and then he smiles real big. I started laughing so hard. I love that he tried to think of the best compliment he could, hoping to get a free toy! Unfortunately the guy at the register did not even crack a smile.

Christmas Goodness

The other day I came home from the grocery store and saw a big box on the front porch. I didn't think that my Andy or I had ordered anything, so I was curious to see what it was. I took the kids into the house and then opened the front door to take a gander. On top of the box was an adorable Matilda Jane sticker. I freaked out. A matilda jane package on MY doorstep??? (I have been in love with Matilda Jane ever since my sister introduced my to them a few years ago). What could it be??? I started to get little butterflies of excitement in my stomach. I don't think I have ever ripped open a package that fast before in my life. In the box I found this cute little note...

 My sister's adorable girls were picked to be in the next MJC spring catalog and my sister was going to buy my girls a little something with the gift card they received. I thought that maybe the package was from her. I started taking the carefully wrapped clothes out of the box. every piece was more adorable than the next. the goodness just kept coming and coming and coming. I laughed. I cried. I may have screamed and jumped up and down a little too. I could not believe it. I called my sister to see where all of it came from. She too laughed, screamed, cried, and jumped up and down. Every year Denise (owner of MJC) asks people to submit someone who they feel is deserving of a some MJC LOVE. My sister entered me. Denise receives thousands of emails and she picked little ol' me to receive of the MJC goodness. I feel SO loved!! and grateful!!! Denise you are truly amazing! I  can not thank you enough!! I am more than elated! My husband who is a man of few words when it comes to girls' clothes even said "WOW!".  :) Three days later and I am still smiling.

Livi's Loot

Avery's loot

Avery wasn't in much of a picture taking mood, so don't let her fake smile fool you. She has LOVED wearing her new clothes!

If you haven't checked out Matilda Jane clothing before, YOU MUST. The clothes are to die for cute and the quality is beyond amazing. We Love MJC!!! Thank you for putting a smile on my face!

On another note, Is there a cuter, funnier, more lovable boy on the face of the earth??? I think not!

Drew found Andy's ski goggles and wore them the ENTIRE day. To the store and all. I think he looked pretty cute :) Oh, and don't forget the princess stickers on his forehead. that a boy! :)

A Spring Fling in December

 I am in total denial that Avery is turning 6 tomorrow! She wanted a Rainbow, butterfly, flower party this year. I tried to convince her to do one or the other, but she wanted them all! The birthday girl got her wish!

I designed the invite with some freebies from Lettering Delights. love that site.

For the decorations I replicated the invite on a big wall in the family room. Almost everything I used was from the dollar store. Avery and her friend Remi helped me make the rainbow out of tissue paper and then I cut everything else out of scrapbook paper and taped it onto the blue table cloths. It is really bright and happy, perfect for a Spring Fling!

sorry my crappy point and shoot picture doesn't do it justice

I also order butterfly wings for all of the girls from haloheaven. another great site you should check out. They are really cheap! this is the only picture I have showing some of the girls and the wings

And last but not least, a rainbow cake topped with a cute little bunting. The kids LOVED it. 

Livi snuck into the corner to play chubby bunny with some leftover marshmallows :)

Super fun!! I only wish I had more pictures. Can someone tell me how to run a party AND photograph the event? How do people do it? I'm lucky I got what I did! :)

Happy Birthday Sugar Booger!!! we Love you!

I blinked

I blinked and November was over. Why do I feel like my life is speeding by? Please slow down. I want to savor my sweet little kids. They are growing up too too fast.

I have been a terrible picture taker this last month (mostly because the thought of keeping up with all the editing is so daunting). So, the november recap will be quick :)

Drew's Preschool pictures. Isn't he a handsome little dude?

After I got my wisdom teeth out (so NOT fun) my face was really swollen and I didn't feel like doing much. But, I did manage to do a few Thanksgiving crafts while hiding out in my house for a week. I jumped on the crafting bandwagon and made a coffee filter wreath and a give thanks banner out of an old book and doilies(it was supposed to be for the fireplace mantel, but I made it too big). 

Super fun and easy!

Drew being Drew☺

Simple Sweet Moments...Siblings sharing an Apple Cider slushy at the apple orchard

and the most exciting news of all. drum roll please...

Avery lost her first tooth!!! She has been wiggling them since april and finally pulled one out. She was so excited! Andy and I both cried. Sounds silly I know, but I felt like a piece of her "little girl-ness" came out with it. She needs to stop growing up so fast!

That's all for now folks. I told you I was bad. Hopefully December will be a better month.

HaPPy hALLoWeEN!!

We have all eaten WAY too much candy over the last few days. Talk about an overdose. I'm not so sure I really like this holiday. It really doesn't lead to much good...cavities, expanding waist lines, and whining kids begging for more, more, more. What would be the halloween version of the grinch? That is me right now. Halloween is fun and all, it is just the aftermath I don't like :)

My little pumpkins

Superman is showing off his muscles!

This picture makes me laugh because I can just hear Livi making her little "uh" noise when she wants something...like a sucker. Livi loved going trick or treating! 

Ariel showing off some of her loot from the ward trunk or treat party

 Hope you all had a fun Halloween :)

School Pictures

Come on. Could they try just a little bit harder to connect with the kids and get a good smile??? Do all school pictures have to be awkward? A little background though. The week before pictures her front tooth died and turned grey. She was really sad about it and told me she didn't want to smile in her pictures. I told her not to worry about it and smile big anyways. I think this shot is her contemplating the idea to smile or not :) She is still cute though, quirky smile and all.

Another Drewism

Drew was watching the living scriptures, the one where the Savior comes to visit the people in America.

Drew says "Wow,  Jesus is really sticky."
me: "Huh?"
Drew: "Jesus must have really sticky feet. He can stick to the clouds and walk on them."

Ha Ha, love that boy!

Such a fun Night!

We went to Vala's pumpkin patch last week with some friends. It was such a blast!! This place is huge and packed with family friendly fall activities and goodies galore. It still doesn't replace Patterson's farm in Ohio, but it was close ;)

Livi was scared to death of the Camel. So I did what all good moms would do. got her picture with it. The Camel decided it would be funny to give her a big wet one. She screamed so loud! We laughed so hard!

There was a huge pile of corn to play in. everyone (adults included) loved it. The funniest moment was when Andy threw some corn at our friend blake and 2 kernels went straight up both of his nostrils! So Funny! We had corn down our pants, and just about everywhere.

The spider web crawl

                             

Livi Loo loo

Just some random pics from Livi and I hanging out in the garage last week.

 She LOVES to eat chalk

12 months at a glance

Livi decided to take this walking business serious on her birthday. She took off and hasn't stopped since. She loves her independence!

Livi loves to read books with her daddy

She loves babies, blankies, and stuffed animals

her first word is "uh-oh"

Her first animal sound is an elephant

she can scream like no other :)

She is a happy sweet little girl!

we love you livi loo loo!

Around the House Part 2

As of last week, I had NO pictures of my kids on the walls. That needed to change. I LOVE Canvas prints and would order a ton if I could. Unfortunately, they don't fit in my budget right now. So I found a solution. Behold the Faux Canvas

I was a little skeptical before I started, but I actually really like them. And, It cost less than $20 to make all Three! I bought a board at Lowes (about 3/4 inch thick) and had them cut it into 12x12 pieces. Then I painted the sides black, had the pictures printed at Costco for $3 each, and mod podged them on the boards. And Waahlaa! Faux Canvases! You've got to try it. Fun, Cute, and Cheap!

HoW tiMe fliEs...

It seems just like yesterday I was buying girl clothes and bedding before even knowing the sex of baby #3 (more on that here),  hoping, waiting, wanting another sweet babygirl. My wish was granted and this last year has been a dream in so many ways. Livi has not been the easiest baby, but she has won my heart. I am head over heels for this little girl. 

Enamored.

I had so much fun planning her party. Things didn't go quite as expected (the weather forced a few changes on us), but I think it turned out pretty cute and we had a great time! 

I didn't have time to take pictures before the party, so you will just have to use your imagination a little as to what the table looked like with all the food and stuff :)

I found a ton of cute craft projects online that I knew I had to make for the party. First was the adorable crepe paper rosette balls that I hung on the tree branches. So cute and fun to make! The doilie banner was the perfect delicate touch for the table. And one of my favorite ideas I came up with was the picture time line (I was going to hang it up outside but it was too windy). I cut out 12 birdies, labeled one for each month, and hung the corresponding pictures up with clothespins.

The party favors were fun to do too. The goods included 1. bags of gummy worms with tags that said "early bird gets the worm" 2. Felt bird clips for the girls made by my amazingly talented mom 3. Bird whistles (do you remember these as a kid? this was to add a little nostalgia. I loved these when I was little and knew I had to have them for here bird party). You fill them up with water and they really sound like birds tweeting. And some bubbles and play doh 

number 4 shows the cute shirt that my mom also made for Livi

Here is the cake topper. And oh the cake! It was really hot and humid the day I made it. I put the filling in the middle and decided to do the frosting after I finished up a few other things. After a while I looked over and noticed that the filling was oozing out the sides, melting into a big mess. So I picked up the cake to put it in the fridge. As I bent over to make room for the cake, The whole top layer slid right off and splattered all over the floor. not pretty. I almost cried. But, I happened to have an extra layer (long story) so it wasn't as tragic as it could have been. but no party is complete without a little DRAMA!

Livi LOVED the cake. I gave her a cupcake and she seriously devoured it! 

Lucky for us Uncle Austin and Aunt Andrea got to be there to help us celebrate. Andrea was my picture taker so I could enjoy the party. I think she did a great job. Thanks Andrea!!!