Valentines Day is my fraaavorite holiday!...

Yes I meant to write "fraaavotite"!

That's what Madi told me after preschool last week. Well she actually said "valentines day is my fraaavorite holiday and christmas and my birthday."

She is such a little love bug. She's all about the kisses and hugs and love dovey stuff. She gushes when the prince sweeps the princess off of her feet. She stares in awe when the princess walks into the ball wearing her most glamorous gown. Madi is a total romantic. So, of course she loves valentines day so much!

I just can't get enough of her excitement. Seriously, she has been talking about valentines day for the past month and it's almost here!


We made heart cookies. She rolled the dough (with a little help from mommy). She cut the dough with the cookie cutters all by herself! We frosted them and she put on her favorite sprinkles that she picked out at the store today. She couldn't be more proud!


Madi also made all of her valentines fir her friends! She picked out the saying and we printed it out. She cut them all out, used her favorite colored marker (blue) to write on them, filled the bags with candy, and threaded the ribbon through the cards. We will add a cookie to each bag in the morning and tie them up! She can not wait to give them to each of her friends at preschool tomorrow :)

I am one proud momma! There is something so magical about seeing the joy fill your children's eyes when they are over the moon excited about something. I can't get enough,

Best discovery ever!

So I made a discovery today that I couldn't be more happy about!!

One of the only ways I post anything, on facebook or anywhere else, is from my phone. David surprised me with an iPhone in October and I am totally loving it! It allows me to do everything i need to do online or otherwise without having to sit down at the computer. Between client emails, editing, designing, book keeping, and the list goes on, I feel like I'm always on the computer. I just couldn't justify spending more time away from my family to blog. Even if it is my journal that I cherish. So, I just decided that I'd rather live in the moment then worrying about if I was able to blog everything fast enough or not.

Now for the discovery...
There is an app for blogger!!
Why is it such a big deal? Well simply because I can blog quickly and easily from anywhere while on my phone. The pictures are already on my phone. They don't need to downloaded from my camera or resized or edited. I just push a button and they're posted!

I can't wait to get this blog going again!

Madi will turn 4 in a month! She started preschool last sept and is learning more than I ever could gave imagined. I love watching her blossom into such a beautiful little lady!

Marlie is still my little ray of sunshine. She will be 17 months in a few days an she just started walking last week! It took awhile for her to get up and going but now she's up and running...literally! I could chase after her all day and never tire of it.


Yep they are my girls :)

Here's what we've been up to these past few months in no particular order :)

Madi was what she called "a purple princess" for Halloween. Boy did she play the part well! She is quite the little princess. Marlie was a little flower. It was perfect! Just something I pieced together from different things here and there. What a doll she was!

We have been enjoying lots of time with Daddy since his day job has been ridiculously slow. Not so great for the wallet, but it is so fun to have him home with us during the week!

Two big things happened!
Marlie said her first word "grandpa!" Who she absolutely adores and I coils be more tickled about it :)
AND..Madi got her hands dirty in the pumpkin slime and liked it! Which is a huge deal if you know what a girly girl she is. Seriously though. Funny girl.

I lost some weight! On my head that is ;) I didn't even realize how long my hair was but I don't miss it one bit. I love my short hair!


We danced and sang while doing laundry :)


I had a birthday! It was a pretty great one too. Filled with family and fun. 26 has been good to me so far :)


David and I got all fancy and went to his company Christmas party. I love getting all dressed up and we don't do it often enough. It was fun!


We spent Christmas in Cali with my family and Marlie went on her first carousel ride. She loved it and was laughing the whole time (despite what this picture shows haha).


Speaking of Christmas, we went to pick up my Christmas, birthday, anniversary present from Costco a few weeks after Christmas. I am in love with my Vitamix! I use it once if not twice a day and it's wonderful!

I've used it to make everything from smoothies to soup and ice cream. Love it!


We got over a foot of snow for about a week in Jan. and it was a blast! We played and played until we were frozen. Then David would make us a cozy fire so we could defrost :)


David and I celebrated our 6 yr anniversary on Jan 21st. I woke up to these lovely flowers and a sweet note from my love <3 David had to work all weekend. So, we kept it simple and went out to lunch with the girls :) it was a very great day!


Most recently, Madi started ballet class and she is quite the dancer. Let me tell you! She absolutely loves every second of it!
We had a full week of sunshine last week and it was wonderful! We were all so happy! We played outside as much as we could. It is raining once more today, but we'll look forward to our next few rays of sunshine!

Well my hand is getting a cramp from laying in bed and typing on the phone. Not to mention it's 1am, but oh how good it feels to blog again!

A confession and a resolution

I know this is nothing out of the ordinary for most, but I go through so many ups and downs in days. Sometimes I feel like such an attentive momma. I know that my girls have gone to bed with sweet memories of the day. Then there are those days when everything is a disaster and they go to bed in tears of frustration and not feeling like their mommy payed very much attention to them that day.

Here's just an example from a few weeks ago...
I was so lost in my own little world. Just me and my lovely (not so lovely in this case) computer. I looked at the clock that read 7:20pm and I felt a huge wave of guilt wash over me. My sweet Madisyn was sitting at the table eating her pizza all alone. Marlie was fast asleep (that would be fine, except she wasn't down for the night..it was her second nap). Why did I let this happen? I was in front of the computer. That's the only reason that my house was a mess and my girls were left to fend for themselves.

It's not always the computer that gets my attention at times when I should be focused on loving them up. It's all sorts of unnecessary distractions of all types.

This is NOT how I want my kids to know their momma. I know I can't be perfect but I do know that I can do much better than this. Here's to a fresh start :)



My girls all cozy and tucked in bed with sweet hugs and kisses to send them off to dreamland.

Jesus the Christ

David and I have always made a valiant effort to have couples scripture study and prayer each night since the day we were married almost 6 years ago. I know that many of the blessings we receive on a daily basis are a direct result of this.

I have always wanted to read Jesus the Christ in its entirety and it seems that every time I start reading and have every intention of finishing it, I only get through a handful of pages. I am not a reader. I wish I was, but I just don't ever finish any book I pick up besides the scriptures.

The other night David and I finished the Book of Mormon and we were going to move onto the Old Testament, when this book popped into my head. I asked David if he wanted to read this with me and we could still do our individual scripture study as well of course. He has never read it from cover to cover either. So, liked the idea.

Can I just say that I am really loving reading this with him. I am getting so much more out of it and I know we will finish it. It really motivates me to follow through when someone is counting on me!

I love that I get the chance to come closer to my Savior while my eternal companion is right by my side. That is true joy.

 

Blogger of the summer award

I mean WORST blogger of the summer award goes to me.

I really have no excuse other than the fact that I find my days filled with everything besides blogging and when I do go online it's to update something for my business or get lost in fb or some other time waister. Sheesh. When all is said and done, my blog will mean the most to me. Someone just keep reminding me of that when I'm being a slacker ok? Thanks :)

Ok lets just start with now shall we? I will play catch up soon...I hope.

The latest development around here is this.

See that little sharp thing poking through my poor baby's gums? That's her first tooth making itself known (last Sunday Sept. 4th). That little thing has taken over my sweet baby and all I'm left with is tears. Madi was 13 months by the time her first tooth came in and she barely made a fuss. I didn't know how easy I had it until Marlie showed me the other side of the fence. Oh well. She's getting more patient and sleeping through the night again. I just hate seeing her in so much pain.

Speaking of Marlie, she is going to be 1 yr old in just over a week. Um when did she start growing up so fast? Really though. She's getting around. Crawling like a pro. Scaling the walls. If fact, just an hour ago I walked in the girl's room to find her standing in her crib destroying the blinds. Oh what little turkey. She is passionate girl. Everything she does is full on. If she's happy, she is the most enthusiastic person I have ever known. She just can't contain her happiness and it ends up coming out as an explosion of babbles and yells (happy squeels). When she's feeling impatient (particularly when it's time to eat NOW) she lets out a whole different yell. The kind that gets your attention real quick and lets you know she means business! She is still my sunshine. I don't see that ever changing. There is just something about her that I can't get enough of. Her hugs and slobbery kisses can get me through anything. Gosh I love her.

Oh and that square faced smile up there...I would do anything just to see it one more time. Melt!

More soon :)


 

I'll just call it May.

There has been a lot going on around here and I thought since it is the first of June, I'd do a little recap of May before it gets away from me!

It's going to be a little scattered and a little random.  Lots of pictures and a few words here and there :)

It's raining as I write this, but this past month has been full of sunshine and we've been taking full advantage of it. Madi just loves playing with her friends!


Marlie hanging out at our play date. She is almost always smiling and couldn't be any sweeter :)


Daddy's been working like crazy, but he always finds time to snuggle with his girls and they just eat it up!

This one melts my heart.

Madisyn has a new found obsession with the vaccumm. She LOVES to use the hose to get in all the corners. Yeah, she's hired!




Still hard at work!


See...always smiling!


You've probably noticed in pictures that Marlie's left eye crosses in jsut a bit. We took Marlie into an eye specialist to get it looked at. I wish I would have taken more pictures. This place was AMAZING. These pictures were taken in the wating room. So fun and very kid friendly.

It turns out that Marlie's crossing is an illusion because of the way the skin around her eyes and the bridge of her nose looks. It's called Pseudo-Strabismus. We will go back in 3 months to make sure there's no true crossing by then.


It was kind of ironic how crossed her eye looks in this one right before we went into the exam room.


This princess loves a good movie, just like her mommy.
I bet you'll never be able to guess what movie she's watching in the first picture :)
We went to Renton to see a children's play, but when we got there, they had just sold out of tickets. We were a little bit bummed, but decided to make the best of it. Instead, we went to the movies and saw Rio in 3D. It was very cute and Madisyn LOVED it!


Madisyn's imagination has taken flight this past month! I love watching her dream and create. She knows how to find joy in whatever she does. She sings a song while she's picking up her toys and dances around like a princess all day. Oh and dragons are everywhere we turn these days, but there's usually "so little and cute" haha.  I want her life!


This was a very common scene this past month. She loves to just sit outside and breath in the fresh air in the warm sunshine. (she didn't want me to take pictures. once she realized I had the camera out, she brought on the sass!


We walked to the "swing park" as Madi likes to call it, (which is a few miles away) quite a few times lately. I put Marlie on the swing for the first time and she found her new favorite place to be! I love watching my girls smiling and giggling with eachother.


My dear friend from school is a flight attendant for Virgin America. One Sat morning she sent me a text letting me know she was going to be in Seattle that day. I dropped David off at work and headed over to spend the evening getting lost in Seattle with her. We had a great time and it was so fun to reminisce about the good ol days.


I have a HUGE weekness for all frozen yogurt. There just happens to be a very yummy place litterally right across the street from us. Let's just say, we take walks over there quite often :) That yummy goodness just calls my name!


Madi wanted to me to take a picture of her and then she said "can I take a picture of you mommy?" How did she do? Not too bad for a first timer. I just have to teach her to move that finger off of the flash and I think she could be the next Greenwood photographer :)


Another beautiful day at the park. I'm so glad I brought my "big girl camera" this time. These girls are my treasures!










Last Saturday, the girls and I went to the Seattle Folk Festival with David's family (he had to work). It was crazy crowded. I saw and heard a few things I wished I hadn't, but in all, we had a great time. The music was so fun and some of the shops were just incredible. I'm always amazed at the things people can create with their hands.









This guy just walked up to us while we were sitting on the grass eating a snack. He handed Madi a bird and she kind of freaked out, but she warmed up the the idea and thought it was so fun. (I wish I had a better picture!)






Yesterday was a stressful and by the time the girls went to bed, I just needed to get out. (David was home, don't worry.) I took myself to the movies and I'm so glad I did. I saw this movie and it was incredible. Just what I needed to get away from it all and step into another time. I really loved this movie. So well done!