Our Little Song Birds

Today our girls stood up in front of approximately 350 people in church and sang this song together. They were thrilled to sing into a microphone. They did a great job and their sweet spirits were felt.
A big thanks to ANNIE for playing the piano!

"I Know That My Savior Loves Me"

(This is a little practice run taped in our office)


Music was an integral part of my childhood.

Most mornings I recall waking up to boisterous "morning time" music piping down into my room from the stereo above. On everyday afternoons the sound of Broadway musicals filled our surroundings.

My sister Kelty certainly memorized the words to about 363456 more songs than I ever did, but I can still recall countless songs that I learned as a child.

Of course the most memorable of musical times occurred just before we drifted off to sleep when my mom would sing us nightly bed time songs.

We have continued this ritual with our girls. When Daddy is home he relieves me and always takes over bed time duties. How I love to hear his deep voice softly float down the stairs as he sends the girls off to dreamland with tender songs.

Our older girls can hear a song once or twice and from there on out the melody and words seem to be permanently ingrained in their memory.

They are apt to burst into song at any given time on any given day and I love it! We hope that they too will be able to say that music was
"an integral part" of their childhood.

Under Construction

Our master bathroom has needed some TLC ever since we moved in.
This past month it has been getting just that with the help
of our flooring expert Eric. The girls bathroom also received a face lift.


To Do's that have been done:

-Rip out carpet (yes carpet) flooring and uninstall all trim.
-Order new flooring, and yes that is a job and yes it was my job.
-Install new sub flooring in master.
-Lay new flooring in master and kids bathrooms.
-Sand wood finish off master vanity. PAIN. Cody did most, Brinley and I helped.
- Prime vanity, sand again.
-Paint vanity white, then paint it again, second coat.
-Special order new vanity counter top and
pick it up from Lowes with three children, one a screaming baby
...still her favorite past-time.
- Install new knobs on vanity drawers/cupboards.
- Paint all the wood trim white.
-Paint 234632456 test sections of wall to try and determine new paint color
...still in progress.
-Repair grout and loose tiles in shower.
- Re-caulk around bathtub, shower, floors.

To Do's yet to be done:

-Install vanity counter top, sinks and faucets.
-Install new light fixture.
-PAINT!

Whew, what I've come to realize each time we take on a house project is that I have closure issues. I like to start a project and finish it that same day.
Long messy house projects and people with closure issues don't mesh well.

What I do love however is working alongside my husband
...even if it's late at night after a long day. We will enjoy our bathroom all the more after waiting so long and working so hard for it!

Related spiritual enlightenment HERE.

Valentine's Breakfast

Our Valentines breakfast included these pink crepes,
blueberries, strawberries, bananas and warm maple syrup.

*Next post = Extreme Makeover bathroom edition.

Cookie Party

Our annual Valentines cookie party tradition lives on!

We have only the most wonderful friends here and we are so glad they could
join us for some creativity and sweets.

My home made heart shaped sugar cookies became progressively smaller as the baking wore on. The first batch was the biggest...the 25Th cookie baked was the smallest.That being said, none of them were very small at all.

Here is a sampling of some finished products.
Check out my Moms Valentine cookie crowd here.

After we said good-bye and put the kids down, all the mommies
headed here to celebrate Sara's 30Th! All of these pictures are courtesy of her husband Dan. Thanks Dan.

What a fun night of celebrating with our fabulous friends!

Mothering the Mother

When I was in training to become a Doula I was taught to
"mother the mother (and father too)."
And so that's what I did while working in Los Angeles during numerous labors, births and post-partum visits.

What I did not realize at that time was how wonderful it would be to care for my own
loved ones after their babies came into the world.

Baby boy Jude, big sister Brooklyn and my miss Rella May.

Beaming & Beautiful Mommies.

I first spent 3 days with Paige, Tray, Brooklyn and baby Jude at their home an hour outside of the Chicago in Indiana. Paige and Tray are such relaxed and patient parents and I enjoyed observing their sweet parenting style. Brooklyn became my little shadow and "helped" me cook the meals and clean. We even went swimming together at the local YMCA.

Of course I also loved my snuggle time with sweet baby Jude.
He was named after his loving Grandma Judy who tragically passed away on Dec. 2nd.

Paige and I talked and talked and giggled just like old times.
Our lives have evolved over time. They are much more complex, we have more responsibility...
and yet it was still just us, being us together. Aging is weird. Friendship is wonderful.

I spent the next 3 days with these proud parents and this beautiful baby.
It was such a special experience to observe my little sister and her husband care for their baby so lovingly.
They on cloud nine with their little sunshine and rightfully so.
Rella is a very peaceful yet incredibly strong baby.

When Kelty called me the day after they arrived home from the hospital to report that Rella was rolling over I was admittedly skeptical. Well folks, I'm happy to report that my sister is not a liar. I witnessed my niece flip from her belly to her back a number of times!

I found myself enlightened by conversations with my little sister as she would share helpful knowledge she has gained in graduate school. We enjoyed Leah style dinners together when Daddy Duane arrived home from work and spent our evenings talking in their "home in the sky"
situated right above Millennium Park. My mornings were spent snuggling with this little munchkin
so Mommy could catch up on her zzzzz's.

Happy to help Aunt wearing a wrap that Paige made for Kelty.

A thankful shout out to my sweetie pie for being Mr. Mom while I was away!

Home Again, Home Again Giggity Gig

This was the view I arose to from my sisters place yesterday morning at 7:38am.
Now I am back home with my wee ones, how I love them AND
how I love their father for making this trip possible!

More blogging once I am done baking 25 big heart shaped cookies for our annual
Valentines Cookie Decorating Party tomorrow night.

For now check THIS out.

Food Glorious Food

What? A chocolate chip peanut butter cream pie I made for a
GNI (girls night in) at my place. When? Last week.

What? A summer salad I made for a luncheon with friends. When? Last week.

What? My lunch. When? Tuesday.

What? After school & after nap snacks. When? Last week.

What? A big machine in my hallway.
When? Monday & Tuesday. Why? Find out next week.

Tonight I will kiss my kiddies and sweet husband goodbye
and board a plane to the windy city!


Go HERE to see the cute & creative party Jill & Arian had last night.

Stamp Much?

Yes, I am still stamping...however,
I find myself morphing into a new me with less time for crafting.
I DO continue to enjoy creating little stamped birthday ensembles and teacher treats.




As you can see, my sidebar "Links I Love" section has now been updated to reflect my current areas of focus.


Last night after a family night lesson about our February Character Quality focus, Charity & Love,
we made THIS for activity time. It was a hit!