Springtime Snowman

So one would think that living in Utah that we would have a lot of days to enjoy "The Greatest Snow On Earth"  Well this year, not so much! There have only been a few storms that actually had snow that stuck around, and even at that it rarely lasted more than a day or so. I even bought all the kids new snow boots and they didn't even get used! In fact the snow clothes are still up in the attic.  The kids were delighted the other day when the temperatures warmed up so they could play outside and there was still a little snow left to build a snowman.  As you can see, it was a bit of a stretch to gather enough snow and it was melting quick! Nevertheless, they built a very cute snowman!

The snowman had a bit of a lean, so Lexi was holding him up with her knee!

Gavin wasn't sure what the cold white stuff was, but he had to get in on the fun!

They were so proud!

 Notice that Kamryn was the only one with gloves, she wouldn't even give one of them up to Lexi...she said, " I think you need to go get your own, I don't want my hands to get cold!"

Here he is!  They used leaves for the eyes and mouth, and sticks for the arms and nose.  Sadly he melted away within a couple hours, but it was a great way to cure some cabin fever!

Look Who's 5!

I can hardly believe that Kamryn is 5 already! I have seen these birthday questionnaires online and decided to do it from now on to see how the answers change from year to year...so here is Kamryn at 5!

How old are you? 5
How old is your Mom? 80 (ouch!)
ow old is your Dad? 99
What makes you happy? If Dad brings me donuts
What makes you sad? If Dad doesn't bring me donuts
What makes you laugh? If you tickle me in the armpits or the feet
What is something mom always says to you? You love me
What is something Dad always says to you? That sometimes he will bring me donuts
What is your favorite thing to eat? Donuts (didn't see that one coming did ya!) or cupcakes
What is your favorite thing to do? Eat cupcakes, play toys, and play house
What is your favorite TV show? Sonic
What are you really good at? Holding Punky and not petting her with my claws
What is your favorite movie? Astro Boy
What does Mom do for her job? She picks Lexi up at school and finds stuff on the computer
What does Dad do for his job? He goes to work at Kansas and fixes the trailer
Who is your best friend? Avery and Addie and Shelby and Mark and Hannah
Where is your favorite place to go? Build a Bear Workshop
What is your favorite book? The Diary of a Wimpy Kid Roddrick Rules
What do you want to be when you grow up? An artist

Here are a few pictures of Kamryn's celebrations this year, since her birthday fell on a weekday she got to celebrate the weekend before with the family, at preschool, and a friend/family party the weekend after.

Kamryn got a special crown to wear at preschool and she got to pick a special lollipop...she went with the blue one with a dolphin on it

The Cupcake Cake!

Painting suncatchers with her friend Shelby

She now smiles for pictures! A huge improvement from last year!

Who needs a fork?

She is such a goof!

The aftermath

This was what was left of Kamryn's cupcake!She has never really loved cake, but she didn't want to share it either!

A princess quilt for a little princess! She watched Grandma every minute as she made this, she was so excited!

Finally an update!

I realize that I have been really slacking on my blog for about the last year, or two:), so I have decided to make it a priority to update every week. So here we go....

I guess I need to start with an update of where we are now. We moved from Colorado in June and moved to Utah. Tim is working in Kansas and commutes home on the weekends, so the kids and I are staying in my parent's basement apartment until his project is finished, then it's on to the next job in Arizona. This has been a challenge in many different ways, but we are so thankful that we have the opportunity to be close to family again.

Me and Tim:

Tim and I are doing good, despite the obvious hardships of living in different states 4 days out of the week! We are really looking forward to being able to see each other every day and spending more time as a family again.

Alexis:

Lexi is now in second grade, and is doing awesome! She loves to read, draw, and write stories and amazes me everyday with her imagination. She is such a sweet girl and is very helpful. She especially loves to help take care of Gavin (which I love too!)

Kamryn:

Kamryn is in pre-school and loves it! She is learning to read, write, and loves to color. She also loves to do whatever Lexi is doing! Kamryn is very headstrong and knows exactly what she wants (which isn't always what mom wants!) so it can be challenging, but she can also be very sweet and gives the best hugs!

Gavin:

Gavin is 19 months old and is definitely keeping me on my toes! He loves to play ball, ride his fourwheeler, make truck sounds, and climb everything! He has such a goofy personality and is so much fun!

Easter

This Easter seemed like it came so fast, even though it was actually later than it usually is. We woke up to snow Easter morning, hence no cute pictures of the girls in their springy Easter dresses. Alexis had her first soccer game on Saturday afternoon, so we didn't get to coloring eggs until later that night so Gavin was in bed, but that was probably for the best anyway!

Lexi and Kamryn both got a new dress, pillow pets, and a special "golden egg" which was filled with $10 (which they had to earn by being good the week before!) Gavin got a Little People playset with a DVD.

The girls were so excited to color eggs

Kamryn has a phobia of getting her picture taken so we had to do a lot of coaxing to get her to smile!

The eggs! We had a very busy day and unfortunately I didn't do very well planning ahead so we found an egg kit that didn't require a lot of decoration, but I think they turned out really cute! The girls were so excited that they got to stay up late to make their eggs.

Tim likes to bring me flowers, which I love ;) especially lately since the weather has left a lot to be desired. It is really nice to have a beautiful bouquet to look at when everything outside is still trying to wake up from a long winter.

Lexi drew a picture for the easter bunny!

Lexi also made an Easter list, the night before. Luckily the Easter Bunny had been paying close attention to what they liked and were able to fill a couple of the requests!

The Easter Bunny was kind enough to reply on the list "Dear Lexi and Kamryn, Thank you for the beautiful picture, I will hang it up in my burrow. Congrats on earning the golden egg award. Have a fun day! signed The Easter Bunny" He also left a half eaten carrot behind, yum!

Hunting eggs....

Gavin got a little people playset, but he just wanted to chew on the DVD

Gavin 8 months old!

Could it be that 8 months has already passed since I had this little man? Gavin is such a happy baby and is so fun! He has learned so much this month, here are a few of his new "tricks"

The "Mowgli Crawl" as we like to call it. He doesn't get very far like this so he usually drops and scoots or crawls if he is after something

Gavin loves to play with his big sisters!

Sucking on the back door! He has to taste everything!

Trying to climb the stairs, and getting Punky at the same time! So far he has gotten to the second stair; he is also learning about gravity as he hasn't learned how to get down without just falling =( I'm afraid our house will be full of gates in the very near future!

Crawling!! The scooting is now being replaced with real crawling which he is figuring out is much faster. That is the look of trouble!

MMM toes! Now this one he has known how to do for a while, but has now perfected it!

MWAH!!!! Kisses!! They are big and wet, but I still love them!

Headstands are always fun!

A few other things about Gavin at 8 months:

He LOVES food and so far will eat anything

He clicks his tongue and is already starting to make "boy" sounds that sound like airplanes and guns!

His favorite toys are balls and pretty much anything he can stick in his mouth

He has 1 tooth!

He is very friendly and will usually give anyone a big smile!

He is scared of balloons

He pulls himself up to his little play table, unfortunately he usually falls over

He is definitely a busy boy, which is only expected with our kids!

We are having so much fun watching him grow, I just wish it didn't happen so fast!

Look who's 4!

I think I say it every year, but I can't believe that another year has passed and my little Kamryn is 4! It seems like she has grown up so much this year; I guess it may be because she became a big sister when we had Gavin, or maybe that she started pre-school, or just that she is no longer a toddler and I can already see glimpses of what life may be like 10 years down the road! This year we celebrated her birthday by going to the aquarium in Denver and just spending the day having fun together (pictures to come later). We tried to sing her "happy birthday" when she woke up in the morning and she covered her ears and said,"stop singing, that is so annoying!" She has such a funny personality and definitely keeps us on our toes!
There have been a lot of accomplishments for Kamryn this year, here are a few of the biggest (in no particular order!)

-100% Potty trained (now this was right after she turned 3, but it was a huge accomplishment!)
-First pony ride
-First year of pre-school
-Learned to write her name
-Took swim lessons and actually liked it!

A few things about Kamryn that I never want to forget:
-some of the things she says, "that's mokay" (thats ok), "lenolade" (lemonade), "muts" (nuts)
-As I was getting her dressed in her halloween costume as SuperGirl I was putting her tights on and she says "mom are these super socks?"
-She loves to draw and color and according to her teachers is very advanced for her age =)
-She sucks her bottom lip (this one actually drives me crazy!)
-She is such a girly girl, she loves anything frilly
-Her favorite color is purple
-She has to cover her face with the hood of her jacket and "scare" her teachers at pre-school EVERY time!
-She likes to sit close to me and cuddle and gives the best hugs
-She loves animals
-She is definitely the most picky eater!
-Her favorite movie is "Barbie and the Mermaid Tale"
-If you ask her to pick up her toys, her usual response is either "I'm tired" or "have Lexi do it"
-She likes to dance, when no one is looking
-She is very shy, but talks my ear off
-She is obsessed with picking the skin on her fingers and toes, especially while she sits on the toilet!
-She is a Daddy's girl


We love her so much, and can't wait to see what the next year has in store!

Catching up.....

So here I go again, trying to catch up! I decided I would just post a few pictures from the last few (5) months! I swear I am going to be a better blogger!

This year we spent Christmas in Texas. The weather was awesome and such a nice break from the cold Colorado winter. Of course I didn't take as many pictures as I should have but here are a few from the week.

The girls finally got a Nintendo DS!

Lexi was so excited about her skateboard, luckily she decided it was easier to ride just sitting on it so she didn't break anything!

Kamryn with her doll in matching jammies

Gavin really liked the wrapping paper!

Lisa, Christy, and me

More of the fam!

Such a sweet face!

Lexi with her "BFF" cousin Addison

We took the kids to see Santa and Ms. Clause; as you can see Kamryn was not impressed!

This year we spent Thanksgiving in Utah with my family. This is the whole family except Kamryn who was sick and asleep on the couch, and Mark and Whitnie who couldn't make it.

Halloween with my Super Hero girls and my Little Monkey! Kamryn had so much fun trick or treating this year, she said it was "the best day ever!"