AVA'S BIRTHDAY PICTURES

AARGH!

#1-So since it isn't nice to point fingers, I won't mention any names but a certain someone in our house has dropped 2 cameras in the past year and broke them both! I really need to invest in a kids camera! So I am again cameraless which in turn makes my posts not quite as interesting.
#2- I have been sick with an awful head cold going on 5 weeks now. I didn't even think this kind of thing happened in this day in age. I kept thinking surely I was on the tail end of this misery when the next morning all the symptoms would start to come back. I finally thought, enough is enough, I have got to get back to my old life, so I went to the doctor (of course, my favorite doctor is in Paraguay at the moment). So hopefully things will start to clear up for good this time. How grateful I am for my health!!!
#3- Today Addie hit her mouth on a stool and now her front tooth is wiggly. The dentist said, if left alone with no pressure, the tissue should harden around it and it will be fine. The problem is, Addie sucks her thumb ALL the time. We have been thinking it is getting time to help her stop this habit but now it is in full force. So all day I have been wrapping her thumb in bandaids and tape. She isn't quite on board with the idea and keeps sneaking off to pull off the tape. So when you see Addie next and the tissue has hardened around her tooth but her tooth is protruding straight out...you'll know why.

AVA'S 1ST BIRTHDAY!

one year ago...

...today

love those teeth!
she's on her way

Ava today on her big day

___________

tiny Ava

Today Ava turned one year old! This past year has gone by so fast, it seems like just the other day that she came into our family. We feel very blessed to have her with us and can't begin to describe the joy she has brought into our lives. She has a very sweet spirit and we couldn't love her more!!

DISNEY PRINCESSES ON ICE- WEEKEND!

a morning Easter egg hunt before gettingt ready for the show
grabbing some food before the show
intermission, more sugar please
the grand finale

My sisters and I are always thinking up any excuse to get together. We saw that the Disney on ice show was coming to Salt Lake so it sounded fun to get us and our little girls together for a girls weekend. The girls got decked out in their dress up clothes and we had fun at the show, it was actually pretty good. Then we took the girls to Gardner Village to the candy shop and the little girls had sugar on a stick and the big girls had A LOT of yummy fudge. All and all the weekend was very fun and like always it was over too soon. Maybe we can see if there's a monster truck show soon, the girls are into that, right?!

AROUND THE HOUSE

Ava's new playpen
The kids ready for church
My girls who wouldn't take pacifiers as infants suddenly think they're great!
Addie going to her friends birthday party

SIMPLY DIVINE!

For the March Enrichment me and my friend Tiffany made 100 cupcakes. It was fun to decorate them and to see them all together when we were done. The hardest part was trying to keep the kids out of them! I must say, they were pretty tasty too! Thanks Tiffany!!!

THE GREATEST JOB ON EARTH!

My sister, Leslie Lewis, sent me a quote she forwarded on from their Lewis Family Conference. It really struck me and inspired me to step back and reprioritize my efforts and possessions. It is hard to be a mother and trying to be a good one also is downright exhausting! But this time is so short and so rewarding! I couldn't keep it to myself so I'm sharing it with you... Thanks Leslie, you and Joseph are such wonderful examples!

"When considering how to spend your time, it might be good to ponder on this hard and immovable truth: In all of eternity, in the endless realms of time and space that we have and will yet exist, we only have one very short window of 20-30 years to be parents in mortality. We only have our children as little children in all of that time for just a few short years. That thought has whispered urgently to me pausing me, prompting me, empowering me to lay aside other pursuits for now and bask in the sunlight of my children's youth. It is a path through a place in time that I shall never be allowed to trod again and so I resolve to enjoy and celebrate every step I take."

And on that note, I am grateful today that I surrendered and put the chores aside and laughed with my children. We made crazy faces with scotch tape on each other, we were all laughing so hard we had tears streaming down our cheeks! I'll sure remember that a lot more than I would the clean counter (that would have just gotten messy again!).

OUT OF ORDER

Just so you know, I am not able to get my computer to connect to any internet connection. I probably won't be doing anything with my blog for awhile until I get this figured out. Anyway, I thought I would let you know so you don't keep checking it and wondering if I fell off the face of the earth. Hopefully, we'll be back in business soon!

THAT WAS WEIRD!

If anyone has tries to visit our blog lately, it had been taken over by annoying wallpaper! So here is the new look. Hope it is a little more pleasing on the eyes!
FYI: my new obsession...cupcakes! My sister Kristi and I are determined to come up with the perfect oversized cupcake. Let me tell you, if you are ever looking for a fun quest, this is the one! I'll keep you posted when I get some pictures.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

I was in charge of Isaac's valentine party at school. We played an intense game of BINGO.
Andy gave this to me this morning.
We made paper roses for our neighbor.

I have to first admit I cringe at gushy romance, jewlery commercials make me want to come out of my skin but I do love having valentines day with my family. Any holiday that usually consists of going out to dinner can't be half bad. The kids get so excited with all the festivities and I love spoiling them. Andy suprised me this morning with a wonerful present that I was not at all expecting, it was very thoughtful of him and beautiful, thanks Andy!

MORE SLEEPY KIDS

Ava kept snuggling up to sleeping Addie.
Ava sound asleep in her highchair during dinner.

THE PRINCESS & THE PEA

As some of you know, we are very laid back about sleep around here. If our kids are feeling sleepy they'll usually find somewhere to drop and take a nap but I hadn't seen this one before. I found Addie sound asleep in the middle of kids running around wild on her chair. She looked pretty comfortable!

FOOD COLORING...NEED I SAY MORE?!

HEALTHY LIVING...I HOPE!

So Andy asked me today if I was busy tomarrow around 5:00. Quickly jumping to conclusions I start thinking of all the wonderful suprises my great husband has come up with, dinner without the kids, an hour massage at the spa, the ideas were pouring in. So of course even if I did have plans I was about to cancel them, so, no plans, why? He then informs me that he'll pick me up right before five so we can go to the medical center and get weighed, blood pressure taken, consultation and other tests that I can't remember since I was still waiting for him to mention something about taking me out to dinner. Here's the thing, Andy has been on this healthy living kick for a few weeks now which I am very supportive of as long as it doesn't interfere with what I want to eat and do. So far it has been great, Andy eats carrots after the kids are in bed, I eat ice cream. I don't see a problem. Now he would like us to both get on board with this and be a more healthy couple, you know, grow old together. Since I couldn't come up with an excuse of why I should keep clogging my arteries, I agreed to go. I got off the phone and started to think of how great this could be for us, but then I started to really think of how this could be....no more coke!? Anyone who knows me knows how much I love my coke. It is my reward each day usually around 3:00, its my afternoon coffee, it is how I survive my day. So I must have gone into panic mode because I later found myself endulging on cream puffs and a coke. This might be harder than I think. I sure hope I can do this because when it comes down to it, I really do have a huge crush on Andy and I really do want to grow old with him. So wish me luck...here I go (at least, not until exactly 5:00 tomarrow!)

CHRISTIAN TURNS 9!!!

Christian holding his cousin Justin

Christian holding baby Ava
Christian holding baby Adalyn

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Christian a year ago, on his baptism day

Today Christian turned 9 years old. It has been so fun to watch him grow up, we are so proud of him! Today for his birthday we all went bowling and then met up with Grandma and Grandpa Z to go to Gringos then we all went back to our house to decorate cupcakes. It became more interesting when Andy started decorating all of the kids faces instead! Christian got a new bike for his birthday, too bad there won't be any sidewalks for a few more months.
We love you Christian, we are so grateful to have you in our family!!!!