Spring Break!!

The kids and I drove down to Pocatello for spring break this year. This is kind of becoming our spring break tradition, we did it last year anyway, but this year my sister Dana was there with her new sweet baby Ila Jo. (named after yours truly!!) I really don't like making that drive by myself, but my friend suggested I get a book on tape to listen to during the drive. I took her advice and it helped SO much. The drive went fast and I wasn't slapping myself to stay awake. Anyway, I didn't take hardly any pictures and I'm kicking myself about it because it was the first time they had seen their cousins in almost a year. But we had a great time!!

I did take some pictures of the sidewalk chalk hopscotch session.

Unfortunately it took place before the other cousins got there...

I loved this brave little flower breaking through all the deadness around it. It gave me hope for spring. (because we froze our rear ends off the whole time we were there!)

The one and only picture I got of all the cousins together. I didn't even get any pictures of Ila. I'm lame. (love the shower cap mom!) But if you want to see Ila go here :)

4 Years Old

Boy Howdy am I behind on my blogging. April has been a completely insane month, and it isn't over yet. We started off the month with Maggie's birthday, then the kids and I drove to Pocatello for spring break for a week. Soccer started for Grace and Elliot. Then I had baby shower for my friend. Then we had Grace's 8th birthday. Then we had Easter weekend. And we are having a friend party for Grace's birthday on Friday night. Then the first weekend in May we will have Grace's baptism. I am going to attempt to document this all by blog over the next few weeks, but I can't make any promises on that time frame!

Anyway, the whole shebang started off with Maggie's birthday. She got to have her first friend party this year. (Have I mentioned that next year is our off year for friend parties? Did I mention that I'm very happy about that??) We invited all the girls from her primary class for a princess party. Everyone came in their favorite princess outfit and had a princessy time!

We played pin the flower on the lady bug...

decorated crowns...

cute Jovie :)

decorated cupcakes...

opened presents...

blew out candles...

and smiled like the princesses they are!! How cute is Maggie's tummy hanging out the bottom of her shirt? (we tried to talk Jovie in to getting in the picture, but she wasn't having it!)

Shameless Project Showoff

My friend Misty has taken our family pictures for the last 2 years. They are really good. Up until last weekend I didn't have a single one hanging up in my house. I've had this idea for a picture wall in my head for about a year. The only problem was that really long shelves are REALLY expensive, ala pottery barn. About 6 months ago I found this tutorial for picture ledges. Truly easy enough for even me to do, promise. It cost me a little more than $10 each because I used a bit nicer wood, but still, WAY cheaper than pottery barn! So Ray and I built them (well, mostly Ray, but I stained them all by myself ;). We started them about 2 months ago. They were built in about an hour, but it took me forever to get them stained. Last weekend I had a baby shower at my house and that gave me the motivation I needed to finally finish! It turned out better than I even imagined. I LOVE it!

The finished product. It's the first thing you see when you walk in the front door. I love it!

SNOW DAY!!

We don't usually expect to get a snow day at the end of February, but that is exactly what we got yesterday. We woke up to a good 2 feet of snow that had fallen over night. The kids were so excited. It is the first snow day we have had this year and I'm pretty sure we just had the last day off (last Friday!) that was built in for a snow day make-up, so the kids will be in school an extra day before summer break. But that's alright with me!

Yesterday morning at about 10:30 Grace said, "Hey, I have to go to school!", like we just forgot to send her to school that day. It gave me a good laugh :)

Valentines Day Cookie Extravaganza

We don't do a whole lot for Valentine's Day, but every year we decorate Valentine's cookies. The kids love it. This year since Valentine's Day fell on a Monday we decorated our cookies for FHE and delivered them to some friends. The kids had a great time and we didn't have a million cookies sitting around the house. It was a win-win!