I love. . .

I love how she mingles the small with the tall.
I love her monochromatic pallet.
I love the mix of sweet with the prickly.
I love her artistic signature.
I love that she writes it perfectly and completely backwards.
I love her "i" for text.
I just love her.

In A Van, Down By The River: ELC

Well, I guess there wasn't a van but there was a river.

We went for a nature walk around the Environmental Learning Center. "We" were running late so our friends had already started their walk.

Stopping for a little snack.

No worries, we were able to find our friends or maybe they found us. Either way, isn't this the cutest thing you ever saw?

1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . .

FOUR!!

My little hoolagin is no longer little anymore. She's four!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY CRAZY GIRL!!

All Things Halloweeny

I think it went over okay. We didn't get any trick-or-treaters (we live on the wrong side of the street, literally). We did miss the trunk-or-treating too but made it in time to play a few games at the ward party. The kids had fun and that is all that really matters. Yep, just have to keep saying that. Over and over and over. We made sure that they did get to go trick-or-treating on Monday, sort of. We let the little hooligans dress up in a costume and they went around the house knocking on doors. They made out like BANDITS!

Here they are, the gruesome two-some.

I didn't mean for him to have blue stripes but it was only when I started to paint his face did I realize, we had no black.

This is Caleb after I told him that I get to eat all of his candy.

What's Your Hue? A Valid Question, I Think.

In our front room we have vertical blinds that cover our ginormous window. My chilens are notorious for playing in them and breaking them. It is a major sore spot with me (I know they are just things but they aren't our things so . . .).
Today, Lydia was playing in them and my blood started to boil. I proceeded to yell at her to which she calmly looked at me and said, "Mom, why is your face purple?"

Que hysterical laughing.

A Lydia's Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank you for Wexi and Wathan and Daddy and Mommy and Caleb and Lydia. Help Daddy come home safe. Thank you for wrapping paper. Please help Caleb stop ripping and climbing and crying. Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Praise The Lawd! Hallelujah!

I came in from walking this morning and Lydia comes running out of the bathroom.

"Where's mommy?"

upon spotting me

"Mommy mommy! I found Jesus!"

and to find him in the bathroom of all places.

Random Lydia

The other day I was in the bathroom getting ready for the day and Lydia runs up to the door, begins to bang on it and say "Mommy, Mommy! I need to go potty! Hurry hurry!" This was my reply, "Okay, okay hold your horses."
Then I hear her little feet run into her bedroom. I came out just as she was running back out of her room.
"Okay mommy, I got my horses."


Now how can I ignore logic like that?

Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday!

Today, on this auspicious day, is my little girl's 3rd birthday. Today 3 years ago the most beautiful girl ever was born. She is a constant surprise and sometimes when I look at her I can't believe that I love her sooo much and we haven't known each other that long.


We celebrated her day on Saturday and I am so thankful for the family that came and helped us celebrate as well. Lydia was excited for her special day. Ever since Caleb had his birthday she has wanted it to be hers. Caleb received cards in the mail on his birthday and since then whenever she is with me when I get the mail she asks me "Is that my birthday?" It was a little heart breaking when I had to tell her no but one day we got the mail and there were two cards for her and she asked "Is that my birthday? Is that for me?" And I was happy to say "YES!"




I have to give Kevin a lot of thanks and the credit for the party. I had school that day from 10:30 until 4:00 and so he was home dealing with the kids and baking a cake (cuz he knew I was comin) and putting up decorations and just being a wonderful hubby and daddy.

Weekend Workings

Last weekend I was able to start and semi finish a project for Lydia's birthday.


I found this (along with Lydia's Christmas present) on the most beloved craig's list for a grand total of $20. I was very hesitant about painting it because well, I'm always afraid of painting something that has history. Notice the newspaper? Those were Black Friday ads. Ahhh, they served me well.

Here is the after:



I would have posted it sooner but with all of Lydia's internet surfing I couldn't chance that she would stumble upon my post and then ruin the surprise. I'm only thinking practically.

Poser

This last weekend the kids and Kevin went out with me so I could get some pics for my Photog class and to scout out sites for future "shoots". We stopped at this abandoned cafe along the way and I was able to pop some shots of the kids. There is some focusing issues but I'm gonna work on it.

Two Time's The Charm

The other day we started trying to get Lydia interested in the idea of potty training. She could really care less about it right now. So we did what any responsible, well meaning, parent would do. BRIBERY!! I'm not ashamed to admit that I routinely use this parenting technique, just don't tell anyone. Some may call it coercion but I say coerce away. Does that make me a bad parent? Oh well, I think we can all safely say I wasn't in the running for mother of the year anyways. So we (I) told her that if she went two times in one day then she would get a surprise.

And.......

RESULT!

A Waddler Walkin, A Toddler Talkin, A Rocker Rockin

Well it's official, my little man is a walkin, more like waddling but still...

We were on our way home from Utah and Lydia started counting out load. She's a pretty good counter, before she was counting to 13 but would hit a bump,...10, 11, 12, 13, 13, 13, 13... Driving along and then she started and I was listening to her and expected to hear 13, 13, 13, but instead I heard...11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 15, 15, 15... Slowly but surely she's makin her way up, up, up, up...

While we were in Utah we were able to experience first hand the phenom that is Guitar Hero. I am not really one for video games but this got me hooked. Now I've got Wii on the brain. People! Come on, not that kind of wee! Anyway, Lydia decided she wanted to try her hand at the game and now she's gone rocker chic.

A Cow's Bum, A Horse Head, And A Hayride!

First I would like to thank Poudre Valley Healthy Families program for giving us a fun free farm experience. We had a very fun time and please excuse the cow's manners. I guess she couldn't wait until after the picture was taken.

Babysitter Or Baby Sister?

Well Lydia came up to me today and says, "I wan baby sither."
My eyes bugged out of my head and I said "WHAT!?!"
"I wan baby sither."
"Go tell daddy what you just said."
"Daddy, I wan baby sither."
Daddy's eyes bugged out of his head and he said, "You want a babysitter or a baby sister?"
"Yeah, baby sither."

What do you think? Was Lydia saying she wants a

1. baby sither

or

2. babysither

note: no this is not an announcement, athough it would have been a cute one.

Modern Day Conveniences For The Ever So Modern Mother

The Vacuum

This handy helper is great to have around any space. With it's ease of use, reliability, and self propelled feature it makes a wonderful help to keep the Ever So Modern Mother's house particularly tidy. This specific model is rare to find, only one made in the entire history of time, but does the job impeccably. With it's powerful suction it will pick up anything off of that pesky floor that always seems to collect "stuff".

The Dishwasher

Dishes, the bane of the Ever So Modern Mother's existence. It's fun to make the mess but who really wants to clean it up? That's were the Dishwasher comes into action. Another very rare model to find this one in particular will not only wash the dishes but has the technology to put them away as well. This Ever So Modern Mother loves her Dishwasher. It hardly ever conks out on her and very rarely has she had to rewash the dishes after the Dishwasher has gotten a hold of them.

The Television

It would be hard to imagine life without this little gem. The Television is always great entertainment. The Ever So Modern Mother would be amiss if she did not have one of these in her home. Here we have the model that, like most Television models, will actually change channels according to it's mood. Drama, action, adventure, horror, comedy, and the ever loved family musicals are just a few of the programs you can find playing on the Television at any given moment. There are bigger models out there but I think that this one suites this Ever So Modern Mother's life just fine.

The Garbage Disposal

Not really a must have but it may make your life easier. I would not recommend this specific model for disposal purposes. I have found that it is very picky as to what it will and will not dispose of. I suggest, for this purpose, upgrading to the more advanced, less selective model. But of course every appliance has it's pros and cons. The feature I like best on the model shown below is it's excellence at self maintenance.