Friday, January 20, 2017

Girls Night Out

I was thinking back to when I just had Hallie and I put together so many activities for her to do and I have really gotten away from that. I wasn't ok with that and I did some reevaluating and made so plans for the girls and fun activities...they have loved them. One of them is a water activity where they play with measuring cups, spoons, and other random kitchen stuff. They mixed and played for almost an hour. Yes they were soaked and there was water everywhere but its just water. I love the time I get with my girls 
With Matt out of town a lot it can be really lonely. I have really struggled with cabin fever this winter. To help with this the girls and I have been getting out more so we don't get so cooped up. So while Matt was in Tennessee we had a girls night. We went to see Trolls(which was super cute), then we went to dinner at the girls favorite place, Arbys, before we headed to the mall to try on some baptism dresses. On a side note I can't believe Hallie will be 8 this year! She loved getting to feel like a princess and picking out her favorites. We didn't find one she loved so we will keep looking








Then we headed fr home to get ready for bed and call our girls night a success. We had a great time as did the girls. I think we will be doing more nights like these in the future. Love my girls and our time together


Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Happy 33 To Me

At this point I kinda forget what age I'm turning..lol I guess at some point it doesn't really matter but it is fun to have a birthday. It was a great day. I did most of my normal mom stuff intermixed with phone calls and texts. I love getting to catch up with some friends I only get to hear from a couple times a year. Matt brought home flowers and dinner...he's always so great. We opened gifts and ate dinner. I got a bunch of kitchen gadgets I had been wanting for a while....new cookie sheets, silicone baking mats, pastry cutter, piping bottles, and a butter bell. My friend Ashley made me a gluten free white cake with raspberry filling and lemon frosting. She was so frustrated it didn't turn out as well as she had hoped but it tasted yummy. Matt had to teach class so after a short celebration he headed to class and I got the girls all ready for bed. After I got them in bed Ashley came back over and we ate more cake. I thought it was so sweet that she took the time to make it for me. When Matt got home I got one more amazing surprise. Matt made me a video that included all of my family that wished me happy birthday and talked about how special I am to each of them. I may have cried and I really appreciated that he took the time to put something so special together.

This little family of mine is everything to me
I really feel like my 30's have been so great. I have grown a ton and really feel like I have become comfortable in my own skin. I'm really discovering who I am my personality, my fears, my desires, my stresses, my joys, my priorities, etc. I plan to continue to really enjoy my family, try to spend less time stressing about the little things, and to truly embrace who I am and not compare my life to others. I've also become so grateful for health and free time doing whatever I want. I love birthdays and the loved ones I get to spend it with.


Monday, January 16, 2017

Family Pictures

On Black Friday we found a deal to have pictures done at our favorite picture place, Camera Shy, for $80! Since I had been wanting to get our pictures done anyways we jumped at it and bought one. Then we found a day Hallie didn't have school so I didn't have to pull her out to have pictures done We originally picked Friday but Matt ended up having meetings most of the day so we rescheduled for Monday. He met us on his lunch and we got them done. I love how the colors look together and how everyone's hair turned out. Em was a pill and cried most of the session. We probably should have planned more around her nap schedule than meeting Matt since it fell right around meltdown point. So I was very pleased when we got these back that any of them turned out. Luckily we had a very patient photographer that did a great job.
Hallie-7, Gracie-5, and Emery 20 months





 Hallie at 7 is a mature and helpful little girl. She is very thoughtful, logical, and has picked up on some of my OCD planning tendencies and anxiety. She is beautiful inside and out. She is a great helper. She is excelling at school and is a social butterfly. She can also be very stubborn and emotional at times. She loves pizza, nachos, meatballs and rice, and chicken with veggies. She eats a lot of granola bars, fig newtons, apples, goldfish, and poptarts. She is starting to like older kid shows and recently has found full house(like I watched when I was her age). She has started to notice boys mostly when she or her friends are teasing each other. She loves playing PBS kids, with dolls, coloring, card games, and the double basketball game we got for Christmas. She and Gracie come up with some great imaginative stories and play really well together. She is looking forward to being baptized this year.
 Gracie at 5 is full of life and a love for it. She can brighten anyones day and has so much love to share that she isn't shy at all with. She loves to have her hair curled because she says she feel beautiful. She is getting to be a great little reader and will start kindergarten next fall. She is really enjoying preschool and I think it has been a great creative outlet for her. She loves to be my right hand man. She loves to cook and bake with me. She has gotten to the point she can make herself food if Im busy or she is hungry. She loves Elana of Avalor and pretty much anything disney. She can be timid in a new situation or if she is scared or worried. She loves yogurt with granola, pizza, nachos, tacos, spaghetti squash, and lettuce wraps. She has a tender little heart and doesn't do well in loud situations or with yelling. She is usually willing to try everything at least once. She is really great at entertaining herself. She loves to color, play with dolls, play on the computer, and cuddle. She is very thoughtful and loves to give gifts to everyone. 
 Emery is a very busy 20 month old. She is by far our busiest children yet. She is into and onto everything although when she is tired it is even worse. She runs, climbs, and wants to do everything her sisters are doing. She still naps one to two times a day. Sleeps 12 hours at night. We have finally taken away her bottle and are transitioning to a sippy cup. She still has a binki and a blankie she is obsessed with. She love yogurt, string cheese, soup, apples, oranges, cereal, puffs, goldfish, apple cider, hot chocolate, and fruit snacks. She goes potty in the toilet a couple times a day but I don't think she is quite ready to potty train although I just may be dragging my feet. She has all but a couple teeth and they are trying to poke thru for the past week or so. Her vocabulary grows everyday but she doesn't say many words clearly although she is getting better all the time. She says mommy, dad, Gracie, Hallie, kitties, mickey, sippy, binki, string cheese, treat, here ya go, counts to 3, potty, poo, shoes, puppy, ouside(outside), apple, bye, hey(she says this a lot), Nikki, Krissy. She loves to sing and dance in her own little world....its adorable. I love when she cuddles and she usually will if we watch Mickey Clubhouse. 


 Matt, as always, is so wonderful for me. He knows just what to do to make me feel special, loved, and appreciated most of the time. He is always willing to talk things out with me even when I can be pretty stubborn and unsure of my feelings. He reminds me everyday that he loves me and how beautiful I am...which I think every girl needs


Sometimes I get so confused when I look at these pictures trying to decide if we are done or if we are missing one more. I feel like there is one more but Matt thinks we are done which is so confusing to me. Only time will tell. I feel so blessed that Heavenly Father has entrusted us with these 3 special little spirits. We are all learning and growing together for sure. 

Saturday, January 14, 2017

Ice Skating with Chris & Krissy

We had plans to double with Chris and Krissy but when our babysitter canceled we made different plans. With them coming from Tremonton after helping with Kerry & Joy's house it just made sense to meet at our house and go from there. It took longer in Tremonton than they had planned so I made dinner and we ate once they got here before heading over to the Huntsville skating rink. There are so many things I love about this little town and the nostalgic moments it creates for me. One of the ward members had a bunch of skates so we stopped and found some to fit everyone and then headed to get our skate on. They even had a few folding chairs to help us with our minimal skating skills. We had so much fun...more than I think any of us were anticipating. 






 We didn't put skates on Emy so she just walked around and visited with everyone. At one end they were playing hockey and then we skated on the other end.
All the girl loved riding and pushing the chair...including me. Emy would squeal and giggle it was the best. We could have never gotten away with all of this at an ice rink and were glad we had just decided to stay in Huntsville.
 We fell...like a lot but we just laughed at ourselves
We had a great time with Chris and Krissy...for the second weekend in a row!
 I love this little ice skating family of mine. The girls all loved it and Hallie cried when we had to leave. We promised her we would definitely go back very soon
 After a while Matt and Chris decided to start "curling" they drew a circle and a line not to cross. The girls and even the wives took turns sitting on the chair being pushed. It was so much fun
I know I have said this a million times but we had so much fun with this little group of people. Chris and Krissy are so great with the girl and the girls adore them.
 Once everyone's toes were froze we headed home for some hot chocolate and warm cookies. We had our cookie dough all ready to go and baked them as soon as we got home. Everything was a big hit. 

 After we got warmed up we visited on the couch while the girls cuddled before Chris and Krissy headed for home since she had to work the next morning.

What a fun weekend we have had and look forward to more of them. Tubing, sledding, snow shoeing, ice castles, and much much more moving forward.


Friday, January 13, 2017

Date Night

Matt and I have tried to be better about regular date nights. Thursday night the elders quorum came to visit and check in and it just so happens that the presidency is our friends. They came up with the plan to do a date night the following night and I just went a long with it. I was able to find a babysitter and then we were set to go. On Matt's way home from work he got a call from a business contact that had tickets for the Jazz that that night on the 3rd row. Matt of coarse was super excited and called to see if I wanted to go. Since we were using a new babysitter I didn't feel comfortable leaving the kids for that long but I wanted Matt to go and have a good time. So we went to dinner at R & R BBQ and then over to city creek and did a little shopping before the girls came home and the boys headed to the game.
 Matt really likes Perry and they have a great time together. They have caught a few late night movies and seem to get along. Im glad he has a guy friend to do things like this with


It was a fun night. We have never just hung out with Perry and Amy. It was fun to get to know them a little more. Amy was so nice and took our babysitter home when we came home to find all 3 kids still up and the house in a little bit of disarray. 

Saturday, January 7, 2017

Weekend Happenings

After Gracie's birthday party Chris and Krissy came home with us to spend the night. We played games and did just dance until we could hardly stand up we we're so tired. After we put the kids to bed we watched a movie all cuddled up on the couch and then finally off to bed. The next morning we had plans to go sledding but it was so cold we stayed in, slept in, made breakfast, cuddled, watched cartoons, and played another round of phase 10 before Chris and Krissy left to take lunch to their friends. We loved being able to spend one on one time with them and look forward to doing it more often.
 We got more snow both during the night and the day
 That meant keeping the driveway clear and with the mixture of rain and snow that made it almost impossible. It was to wet to really throw it so it would just kinda ooze out of the top. Em was a good sport we have finally gotten her outfit down so she stays warm and comfy. 
 We have also been doing more experimenting with the instapot and made some chocolate cheesecake. It was yummy but to dense and rich I think we have decided we like the plain better.
 Emy has become our busiest child yet. She has recently become obsessed with the treat drawer and I have to keep a close eye on her so she doesn't eat herself sick. I went to change my clothes and came back to this...silly girl. Its a good thing she is so stinkin cute