may madness

*warning* lots of photos

we have been a little busy lately doing all sorts of stuff and nothing all at the same time.

we are addicted to garage sales on saturday mornings. one saturday we were up, ready and out the door by 8:20 AM!

we have found hungry, hungry hippos and some other games, some other toys, some frames for my crafting and the favorite 2 items,

"play place"

picnic table for 25 cents
olivia has started to draw really cute PICTURES, not just "coloring" but actual pictures. this is a the spider she killed that morning.

painting lots of little fingers and toes!

swimming!

playing

sleeping. kale is getting so big. he is all smiles and loves his daddy.

feeding the ducks and geese

a visiting bird. WEIRD!

a little bit of potty training! how did she get SO big. mallory has had a major growth spurt lately. she really isn't my baby anymore. good thing since i already have another one.

getting pictures in their cute shirts! thanks amy, we love them.

playing in the rain at a birthday party

green baths

we have been busy.

brett has been working, doing young men's stuff and going to the gym. i have been cleaning, crafting, blogging, playing and loving these kids.

we are also going on a little trip this weekend to MINNEAPOLIS. we are so excited to see everyone we love and miss there.
hope you are all having a great summer.

IT IS SO HOT ALREADY!

I HATE HOT!

this is what happens when you have 3 kids- 3 and under!

the poor kid rolls over

BY HIMSELF

in the front room while your putting the other two to sleep.isn't he cute

my own etsy shop?

YES!

i finally finished all my hooter hiders!!

i think they definitely got better as a sewed but they are all quite cute...

if i do say so myself. i had to make up some steps as i went so

i am happy with the results. question:

do you start a craft/project and then can't start anything new until that craft/project is done. i have about a million things i could do,

but if i have that one project that i should finish, i just can't start anything else!

do you do the same?

working out

brett is trying new things in the workout area.

he really likes these new weights.

these sweet girls sure do love their daddy.

whenever i make them do something they don't want to do or they have to go to the naughty corner while brett is at work, they cry for their daddy. i guess we are playing good cop, bad cop.

blue, through and through

i found the girls doing this in their bedroom the other day.

i almost shed a tear! first because i love my girls know the cougar fight song (ok, just part of it). second, the thought i may be raising some cheerleaders! ha, ha!

when we left utah (3 years ago, i can't believe it has been THAT long), i was sure i wouldn't miss a thing but my family and friends.

boy, was i wrong.

i want to go to temple square and just be there, in december with all the lights, at conference time with all the people, in the spring with the beautiful flowers.

i want to go to "the BYU". i miss the bookstore, the creamery, the students, the traffic (just kidding). i miss BYU and it's atmosphere. isn't that funny.

i miss the mountains and canyons. i want to go for a drive in the canyon and take a hike. i want to see bridal veil falls. i want to know where i am going. lol.

most of all i miss my family. i want to do girls night with sally and watch a movie and have some fun treats. i want to see my girls light up when they see sally and the kitty's, oh and brian too! i want to see jeremy and janie cute and married. i want be there for janie's graduation. i want to go to erin's house and talk and talk and talk not knowing that 3 hours have passed. i want to have porter and olivia be good friends again. i want to have dinners with kristina and eric. i want to go to gutter butt (isn't that what you call it?) and have crafty nights with heather and ann.

i have such great memories of utah and my family there. i just wanted to do this post so you would all KNOW how much i miss you and to tell you to LOVE IT UP!!

you have all got it good being in that area plus having family around. LOVE EACHOTHER and the time you all have together.

don't know what you've got til it's gone...

everybody sing with me... "pave paridise and put up a parking lot."

first i must say, i am both a momma's AND daddy's girl. i call them ALL the time. atleast a couple times a week to chat, for cooking advice and all sorts of things. the problem is...these two are in EUROPE! i am so jealous. i have gone to call them about 50 times a day!

i don't know how much longer i can take them being away.

REALLY!

janie is updating her blog and telling us DYING to know what is going on. thanks janie.

mom and dad, i hope you are having the time of your life

BUT

please come back soon!
WE LOVE YOU!

update.

getting cuter and cuter. this boy is adorable. he is 3 months yesterday. brett and i just can't get enough of him. he is cooing and gooing and making all sorts of noise. laughs and is ticklish. sleeps for 6 hours then eats then sleeps for 5 more hours!! he is still on meds for an ear infection but is doing much better. we just love having him in our family. this picture is from feb.
today. look how much he has grown!stinky but very sweet toes.

the girls.they have been playing SO well together lately. it has been SO nice. i don't have to hear mallory crying every couple minutes.

this is them watching a movie with popcorn. their favorite treat.

they are getting so big!

haven't been up to much lately, just the normal day to day.

i am a little nervous about the swine flu, so we are kind-of keeping to ourselves and not going out too much!

how did this happen?

i don't literally need an explanation * but do you ever look at your children and think

"how did this happen".

(the other question i love is:

when is their mom going to come pick them up?!

i would really like to go back to sleep.)

i remember being in 2nd grade and wendy (my sister) was graduating.

i thought- i will NEVER graduate, never! it seemed like it would take

F-O-R-E-V-E-R

to be a senior (grade 12 for you canadians).

look at me now.

i am the big 3-0

married

3 kids

YIKES!

i still feel like i am 17.

then i look at these sweet little people i hang out with everyday and can't believe they are:

1. alive

2. so cute

3. exceptional bright

4. fun to be around (most of the time)

5. MINE

i am the mother. me. are you sure? i remember the first time i went to pick up the babysitter and i didn't know what to do. i have never been the babysitter picker-upper. i was always the one being picked up. how can i be the mom?

happy easter

dying easter eggs. the girls loved it. they wanted to help alot.

we didn't ruin any shirts or the table!! amazing!

momma with her girls.
easter morning. the liv and mal got 2 sets of dresses for easter!
thanks grandpa and nana and papa.
i got the hats, gloves, purses and necklaces at target for $1! YA!

i think she is the cutest girl EVER!

beautiful older sister.

next set of dresses. doesn't olivia look like a little english girl.

she is ready to go to a polo match or a tea party!

she doesn't really like the gloves

eating it up.

easter baskets!

we had a very busy easter morning because brett had to sing and i had to speak in our ward. i also made up the program for sacrament! yikes. i don't know what made me more nervous, the program or speaking. everything went really well except i had some help with my talk.

kale and mallory were both crying, so while brett tried to calm kale down mallory made a break for it. so mid-talk i had to bend down and try to talk mal in to sitting back down. she would have none of that. mallory ended up spending most of my talk on the bishop's lap. it was fine and everyone thought it was cute. then after church brett had a 1 1/2 meeting. but everything turned out great and we had an enjoyable day.

HAPPY EASTER.

fun and easy easter treat

bird's nests

here's what you need:these are just like rice crispy treats.

4 cups mini marshmallows

1/4 cup butter (i only put in 2 TBS)

6 cups SMALL chow mein noodles

1 bag jelly beans

melt marshmellows and butter for 2 mintues on high. stir together. put on noodles and make sure all noodles are coated. then form into nests on to wax paper and place jellybeans (eggs) into the nests. let harden for a while. cute helpers.

they made sure the jelly beans were good.

hooters hidden

i tried my hand at a hooter hider (nursing cover). this is how it turned out.

i think it looks pretty cute. it works too!!

ps, i LOVE to say hooter hider.

2 months old

yikes. the third kid grows REALLY fast. i know i say this everytime i post about him, but i really can't believe he is 2 months old. i have these mixed feelings: he has always been here but can't believe it has already been 2 months. such a happy boy what brett is jealous of.

so sad.

kale on his 2 month birthday. he loves to stick out his tongue.

he is getting so fun. he smiles and talks and plays. he has even started to laugh a little. we just love him and can't get enough of him.
2 month stats:

13 lbs 1 oz

24 inches

he sleeps for 7 to 8 hours most nights and has really good naps during the day.

we sort-of already have alittle bit of a schedule.

he is such a good baby and only has moments of crying

he loves his sisters

he is a very happy boy and we are glad to have some blue in our pink world.

a conversation with kale!

big girl mallory

now that mallory is 2 she is getting quite independent. it is adorable.

she has to do everything by herself.

she got herself ready to leave one day. these are the results.coat on upside down. notice the hood by her bum. shoes on the wrong feet!

a welcome visitor

my niece, sara, came to visit us for her spring break.

it was so fun.

she is almost 17! i was a little nervous because we don't really DO anything that cool around here. then i remembered back to when i use to go visit her family when she was young and just hanging out was fun. so sara, i hope you had fun.

here sara is with the girls! they loved her. sara was such a great help too. she held the baby, tied shoes, helped clean up. you name it, she helped with it.

i guess that comes from being the oldest of 6 kids!

we did do some "fun" stuff while she was here.

we helped the girls "make" some crowns. this is olivia being ariel. check out the seashells!
we made some wood 3D puzzel things. sara made this skeleton and i made the effiel tower.

pope kale ivar the first.
sara and i laughed for about half an hour about this one.
the girls just looked at us and didn't really know what we were laughing about.

we also went to the park, took some walks, did some origami, laughed and laughed and played princess.

thanks for coming to visit sara.

we loved having you here!

not an april fool's joke

i almost quit my job yesterday. the people i supervise were being down right rude to me. not doing what they are assigned, bad mouthing me and i think they were planning a mutiny. there is alot of drama here and sometimes i just can't deal with these diva's. luckily the big boss came to the rescue with flowers (not even knowing that i had a bad day), took over with the employees and gave me a much needed break. thanks boss man. i think i can this day job a little longer.

child labor laws??

olivia and mallory LOVE to clean.

here they are wiping the table.

they will also vacuum, clean up all the shoes and do dishes.

they are for hire if anyone needs some help.

happy st. patty's day

we celebrated by going to the indianapolis parade.

it was fun and SO warm. it was nice to get out in the sun.

we were at the end of the parade and only got alittle bit of candy.

olivia was disappointed so next year we will go alittle earlier and get a better seat.

just incase you're wondering, no we didn't adopt, we had quite a few other kids sitting on our blanket with us.
we also had green milk and made sugar cookies with green sprinkles!!
oh, and of course we all wore green.

smiley boy!

kale is getting to be so big. he is 7 weeks tomorrow!

i can't believe how fast time is going!look at that sweet face!

stats at his 1 month dr. visit:

23 inches

11 lbs 6 oz

the dr. said he was very strong and quite alert.

he still has all his hair.

he is smiling, talking and best of all he has started to

sleep 7 ish hours a night!

we love you kale!

some videos from mallory's birthday

i love that she couldn't blow out her candles. i think all the air was going up! i am so glad we caught it on camera!