Mother's Day

 We took a couple pictures and sent them to Grandma and Grammy to wish them a Happy Mother's Day! (both amazing women) I am so grateful for my super mom that raised me and taught me about good values and loving life!   The little fam celebrated me as well... Dave and the girls made sure I had a super relaxing day and took good care of me.  These two girls are the reason I get to celebrate the holiday and I am so lucky to have them!

 Having kids is one of the greatest things in life.  All parents, including myself, love to complain about our kids. I suppose it makes for better conversation and gets you more sympathy.
 TRUTH: They are hard work.  They make you crazy at times.  They require personal sacrifices.
MORE TRUE:  They are worth it.  They love you, and you are their world.  They teach you selflessness.

 Mother's Day was enjoyed and a great time to reflect upon these girls that are my little treasures and the most important aspect of my life right now.  I don't mean to leave out the hubby, but we will talk more on Father's Day!  We love him too!

THE kitchen project

It's DONE!!!  The kitchen remodel has been a work in progress for a long time.  We started by ripping up the white linoleum (with blue flowers) and tiling the floor a couple years ago.  Then, about a month ago we decided to finish the job and refinish the cupboards and install granite counters.  This has been such a time consuming project its a huge relief to be done!  Every night we would work into the wee hours stripping, sanding, varnishing, applying polyurethane and it always took about 10 times longer than expected.  But, now that its done it was so worth it!  We love our new kitchen.  There's a lot of heart, soul, and love in there now.

This before picture is terrible. I know.  Its all I could find.  I can't believe we didn't get a good before picture!

 Here's a close up to see our motivation to take this project on...ugly water damage and wear.

At least I have a midway picture.  So I can never forget the chaos of living in the midst of a kitchen remodel. the best part is when you have no running water!  Experience the bad to appreciate the good, right?

Grandma and Grandpa

 We love when Grandma and Grandpa come to visit!  When they arrived they were full of exciting news!  They're moving to Utah! They are buying a business and soon to be building a new house.  Its great that they will be so much closer to us but still kind of sad that they won't be in Chicago. They will have moved before this Christmas, so visits and holidays will certainly be different!

Grandpa and Grandma definitely kept us entertained... and vice versa.  Let's just say there was ALOT of laughing that week.  The visit was too short, but we hope to be seeing more of them once are a bit closer to our side of the country!

And they brought a surprise with them- doll furniture and barbies!  This activity has provided HOURS upon hours of fun at our house.  Its all very sentimental too.   The furniture was hand made by my Grandma (scroll saw, painting, sewing, building,etc.).  The clothes were designed and sewn by my mom.  I have great memories playing with these barbies for hours on end when I was little.

Now, I just HAD to get a picture of this little setup, created by Lizzie.  This doll is all packed up and ready to go!  This is just how Lizzie prepares to go anywhere.  She's a little hoarder at heart and tries to carry all her belonging with her where ever she goes.  So funny to see her little habits portrayed by her dolls..haha.

April Fools!

I had the best time fooling my girls this year.  This is how Lizzie explains what is happening in this picture:

"I came downstairs and ALL my animals came down to use the potty.  Lalaloopsy was sitting on the potty and taking a really long time!  Everyone was waiting and the line was reallllly long!" This was perfect because these girls have pure imagination.  hehehe.

They thought it was hilarious when they started to pour their cereal to find it was all mixed up!  Lizzie poured the Mini Wheats and got Cheerios. Julie wanted Cookie Crisp and got Chex. 

The girls helped me make some brownies but when the timer went off and we pulled them out they were very surprised to find brown paper E's!  I asked, "How do you like your BrownE's?"  Lizzie responded by taking a bite out of the paper and pretending to eat it.  Julie said, "I don't like these!"  After teasing them a bit I pulled out the REAL brownies and THEN they thought the whole thing was pretty funny.  Lizzie said, "I want to April Fools Daddy!"  So we headed to DHA and tricked Daddy and Papa at work along with many staff members.  The girls handed a plate with tin foil over it (Brown E's inside) to each person and asked, "Do you want some brownies?"  Then, would immediately burst out (before anyone had a chance to look) "We April Foolsed you!!"  

Easter

 It snuck up on us and came early this year....Happy Easter!

A little Pre-Easter excitement.  We begin our Easter festivities with stretches..lol.

 We had a couple egg hunts.  One at Grammy and Papa's house.

 Love an Easter egg hunt with a view!

 The traditional coloring eggs activity!  The girls went wild with colors and stickers.

 And another egg hunt at the park with friends!

 

The kids loved the egg hunts and all but we had the best time learning about the meaning of Easter each night during Holy Week.  Dave was a part of the Savior of the World production this year so we incorporated the music into our lessons (along with interpretive dancing from the girls representing the pre-Easter events).Hah!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Are they cute Irish twins or what?  No they were not born in the same calendar year of each other BUT they do have some distant Irish heritage and EVERYWHERE we go people ask me if they are twins.  

 St. Patty's Day is a great excuse to break out the beer...but we're not really into that so we busted out the green MILK!  It has always been my family's tradition (when I was a kid) to eat broccoli cheddar soup in bread bowls along with some green sides like salad and jello!  Then top it offs with some green milk.  Great memories!  And then I got married...  and my husband doesn't like vegetables!  So we feasted on a much healthier fare (or so Dave insists) of green eggs, bacon, green baby cakes waffles, and the green milk!  Those naughty leprechauns are so sneaky with their green dye!

 And then while we were eating our green feast.....the leprechauns left a trail of chocolate gold coins leading up to Lizzie's bedroom.  There we discovered a lot of leprechaun mischief (messes and trapped stuffed animals) and the whole pot of gold coins!  Julie was shocked and awed with every detail!  Lizzie, though, insisted that "Mommy and Daddy did it!  Not a leprechaun!"  However, she quickly stopped her claims and started hiding gold coins all over for Julie to find, telling her that "the leprechauns left them there!"  It was quite the sacrifice considering she was pulling from her personal stash of coins.

 It made me kind of sad to think that Lizzie was old enough to suspect her parents and to not just believe! Is she that old already?  Even as I ask that question I know the answer- No!  She's only four but she has always been a four year old going on fourteen kind of girl.  She is always telling me that she wants to be an adult and be big like me.  She generally channels all that energy into mothering Julie!  Lizzie has her bossy moments with Juju but many sweet, caring  moments as well.

 Meowma stepped into our little photo shoot!  She used to be so skinny when we found her....

 It amuses me to no end watching Julie chow down on chocolate.   She can stuff those coins into her  mouth so fast! Little kids MAKE the holidays!  Even the small holidays can be so fun with these little people around!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day is not a real holiday you say?  Well, give us an excuse to celebrate LOVE and we will take advantage of it.  (If we feel like it.)  This year we caught the Valentine's spirit and went with it. Something funny happens when you start a family of your own.  You would think with each new person your love would become more divided and sparse but it only grows!  We are over flowing with love (and little girl cuteness) over here so it seemed only right to share.  I started the Vday holiday by giving Dave a little gift and note each day from Feb 1 to Feb 14. We sent out Vday greetings instead of Christmas cards. Then, came the day of.  The girls helped make and deliver V-day treats (strawberry muddy buddies), flowers, and cards for the neighbors and dental office.

 Do you think they were excited about the delivery part?  :)

 Lizzie got an extra special Valentine's Day gift this year:  A new big girl bed!! Grandma made her a special quilt that matches her painting.  The specially designed little girl quilt has special meaning because I had a very similar quilt on my bed when I was about her age.  This is the modern version of it that I had for years and loved.  Daddy also bought each of the girls (and me) one beautiful rose of their favorite colors.  Lizzie-yellow.  Julie- pink. That Daddy (aka "Daddoo" as the girls sometimes call him) knows how to treat his girls well.

Next, we headed to a local nursing home to pass out  some Valentines that the girls made.  It was the perfect activity.  The old folks LOVED the girls and the girls LOVED going room to room introducing themselves, passing out cards, and wishing them "Happy Valentine's Day."  It was very reminiscent for me because I used to love my job at Manor Care Nursing Home working as an Activity Assistant.  Afterwards, we headed to the mall for some See's Chocolates, Auntie Anne's Pretzels, and the kids play zone.  

Later that night we got a babysitter. My hot date picked me up in a sleek black corvette convertible  AND he let me drive! (He made sure to let me know what a huge sacrifice this was.) We headed for downtown and ate at our favorite type of restaurant-Brazilian style Rodizio!  You can never go wrong with all you can eat, fresh off the grill, filet mignon; shrimp; sirloin; roasted cinnamon pineapple; bacon wrapped turkey; and an exotic cold salad bar.  Afterwards, we zoomed around town, hit up all our favorite spots including Sunny Side Beach, Dick's, Ballard, and the temple grounds.  I hate to admit this but we drove around town for so long that we decided we could squeeze in a bit more food so we stopped at my favorite dessert spot, BJ's, to split a pizookie.

This year we were VERY spoiled.  In years past we have kept things simple and had a great time.
Flowers, chocolates, sports cars, and fancy restaurants do not a Valentine's Day make.  LOVE, FAMILY, FRIENDS and SPENDING TIME together is the best! (Not that I'm complaining about being super pampered every once in a while)  :)