March through Summer Break

Here's an update on what we've been up to lately. 

St. Patty's Day: So, there was an article going around on facebook a few months ago that was written by a mother who was not happy with all the other mother's that make a big deal out of all the holidays. She said that her kids would get upset if they didn't get the same things that their friends did, such as leprechauns for St. Patty's day, an elf on the shelf for Christmas, homemade Valentine's day cards for classmates, bunny footprints for Easter, etc etc. While I can understand where this woman is coming from, I also think that every mother should be able to do whatever she wants for holidays without feeling bad about it. Holidays are something that my kids and I all look forward to. I love them, and I love seeing my girls' faces when they are surprised by something out of the ordinary. Every day is ordinary, so I think it's okay to make a few days a year extraordinary. So with that being said, here is St. Patty's day. 

The girls made a leprechaun catcher. As you can see, the leprechaun left his footprints. 

And he also left the girls a treasure hunt, which they thought was so much fun.

The treasure hunt lead them to these little black cauldrons filled with chocolate gold coins. 

We had rainbow pancakes for breakfast. 

And our traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner (And look, none of my decorations are fancy...all from the dollar tree, so at least I'm not spending a ton on these holidays). 

My three little leprechauns

For Easter, all we did was the traditional Easter egg hunt, Easter baskets, new Easter dresses, and a ham dinner. I didn't get many pictures of this.

I saw someone post these cute little Easter lunch bunnies on facebook. Mine were not as cute because I was in a hurry, but the girls loved them for lunch! 

And here are a couple of pictures of the girls in their Easter dresses. 

The girls had been in a gymnastics class since February and had their exhibition in May. They each got to perform on the bars, beam, floor, and vault, and they each got a metal and a bag with treats. 

Hannah also graduated from Kindergarten. They had a little program where the kids sang several songs for us. I can't believe how fast this year went. Here she is with her teacher. 

 Summer Time Activities: 

Our city had a carnival at the park and a parade. It reminded me of growing up in Elk Grove, where we used to have a similar carnival and parade. 

 We also took the girls for a hike to find treasure. There is a website (geocaching.com) where you can find different treasures in your area by using your GPS. We found the treasure, and inside were some Skittles and a few toys. The girls thought this was really fun. 

So far, we've also had a teddy bear picnic, gone swimming lots, to the park lots, played with water balloons, gone to IKEA and the mall, and played with friends. It's been an eventful week, since summer break has begun. I've got lots of ideas to keep my kids busy this summer so we're not driving each other crazy!!

Oh yes, and Brynn stuck a tiny air gun pellet in her ear. It was wedged so tight in there that we had to go to the dr. to get it out.  He used a tool with a metal circle at the end of it. Brynn was not happy when he was getting the ball out, but she was fine after about 10 minutes. No permanent damage done!

 Like I said, it's been an eventful summer break so far! Can't wait for the rest of the summer. 

I will try to post some of the videos that I have of Hannah's graduation and their gymnastics another time!

Holidays, Vacations, and Birthdays...

So today is February 27th. I'm not sure what the date is going to say on this post because I started writing it back in November and never finished it.

Are you ready for this super long post?? I've been really bad at blogging over the past year. I think that most people have stopped blogging about their families, and I am one of those people. But I want to be better. My girls love looking at old blogs, pictures, and videos, so I feel like I need to continue doing this for them. My goal is to blog about all the important things, like birthdays, holidays, vacations, etc. It may take me a couple of months to get to it, but I will blog!! So here are a few of the important things that have happened since October.

Hannah turned 6 on October 10th. We have decided to do a birthday party every other year for our girls, so this year Hannah did not have a party since she had a Tangled one for her 5th birthday. She did request these Lalaloopsy cupcakes, though, so I made those. My mom and stepdad were up for her birthday, and we also got to see my dad and stepmom, and my sister Kerrie the week before. We sang "Happy birthday" to Hannah at my sister Hollie's house, and she got to open up her presents.

She got this 18 inch Katelyn doll that loves to ice skate for her birthday. On Hannah's real birthday, we took her and her doll ice skating for the first time, and she loved it. I didn't get any pictures of that, but Hannah has decided that she wants to be a professional ice skater when she's older. 

In the month of October, we also went to a Pumpkin Patch called Cornbellys. Our tradition has been to go to Hee Haw Farms every year during Halloween, but we decided to change that this year. I actually like Cornbellys better, but the weather was terrible that day, so it made it not as fun as it could have been.


Bailey hates blow up slides/houses, so she just hung out with her dad while Brynn and Hannah played. 

I'm pretty sure my hair was nice and straightened before this event, but as you can tell from this picture, it was a windblown mess thanks to the hurricane like winds we were experiencing.  

Corn box!

Before Halloween, we had a fun Halloween themed family night where we bobbed for apples, played "Don't Eat Frank" (A Halloween version of "Don't Eat Pete"), and then played hide and go seek in the dark. 

We also had stuffed chicken pillows for dinner in the shape of pumpkins. We let the girls paint faces on them out of food coloring. 

And we had Frankenstein milkshakes for dessert. 

On Halloween day, Bailey, Brynn, and I went to Hannah's school to watch her march around the school in her costume. It was as exciting as it sounds. Here are Bailey and Brynn anxiously waiting for Hannah's arrival in the cafeteria. 

And here is Hannah marching toward her classroom. 

I usually like to do a spooky dinner on Halloween night before we go trick or treating, but this year's didn't turn out so yummy. But I think the girls still liked looking at it. 

We had witch pizza fingers....

Jell-O worms (which were a lot of work, and my girls don't even like Jell-O all that much)....

Eye ball meatballs...

and a jack-o-lantern medley of veggies. 

Scott was Tim Lincecum for Halloween. 

And the girls were a witch, a fairy, and a black kitty. They all knew exactly what they wanted to be. 

And I had bunny ears on and a pink nose to make it look like I wasn't a complete party pooper. 

I didn't get any pictures of Thanksgiving. Seems like I never do. But we did have a yummy dinner at my sister's house. This year we started the tradition of a "Thankful Tree." Every day in the month of November we each have to put on a leaf with something that we are thankful for. I think it helped the girls realize how many blessings they really have. 

After Thanksgiving, my sisters and I all flew to California and surprised my mom for her 60th birthday. We were only there for a couple of days, but we got to go to Leatherby's (a yummy ice cream place), watch a chick flick together, have a "favorite things party," go shopping, go out to eat, and have some girl talk. It was a wonderful weekend, and I know that my mom was very surprised when we showed up on her doorstep singing happy birthday (Actually, more than anything, I think she was confused as to why her daughters were all there at the same time without kids).  My brother and his wife and kids already live there, so we got to see them too!

Then came Christmas. I let the girls have their own princess tree this year. They each got to pick out a princess ornament and stick it on the tree. 

Annnnd, here is our skimpy Christmas tree. One of these Christmases, we need to get a big, full tree. 

Buddy, the elf, came to visit our girls again this year, and this time he caused a little bit of mischief. The girls thought it was fun to see what he was going to do every day. 

Brynn, Bailey, and Hannah also made a gingerbread house (and ate a lot of candy whilst making it). 

And they made a snowman after the first snow hit Utah county. ****On a side note, we are all so sick of snow right now that my girls don't even want to play in it anymore. They just want summer to come. 

It has become one of our traditions to do a puzzle (or multiple small puzzles) during Christmas. This 750 piece one Hannah, Scott, and I did the week before Christmas. 

And it is also one of our traditions to give PJs out on Christmas eve. 

Here are a few pictures of Christmas morning. We were lucky enough to have Scott's mom and dad here with us this year for Christmas. They had to take a longer route from California to get to us because the snow was so bad, but we are so grateful that they came! 

Here are Bailey and Brynn with some of their new Christmas toys. 

Christmas picture with Grandpa (Can you tell my girls love to make silly faces whenever I tell them to say "cheese?")

Hannah and grandma

And here's Hannah with another 18 inch doll that she got from Santa and her horse. 

Little cuties hugging with their new shirts and boots on Christmas. 

And I had to get a picture of Scott and me on Christmas too. 

For Christmas dinner, we had our usual: lasagna, Italian sausage, garlic bread, salad, and sparking cider. And these decorations on the table are pretty much all from the Dollar Tree. I'm cheap, alright? 

The day after Christmas, we made our way to California (twice in one month for me!!). We had to take a longer route to get there because of the snow. It took us 19 hrs to get there, when it should have taken around 11. I must say that that was the trip from heck because I felt like I was going to have an anxiety attack from sitting in the car for so long (and from driving through terrible blizzard like conditions).... especially when we got stuck in stop and go traffic in southern California. But all 19 hours of that drive was worth it, because we had so much fun in California. 

I got to see my friend, Stacy, who I pretty much always see every time I go to California because she will always be one of my best friends. 

And our kids got to play together. 

Two of the three of my sisters were also there at my moms, so my girls got to have a lot of cousin time. 

On New Year's Eve day, my dad took us to a fun trampoline place, where my girls got to practice their jumping skills. 

And then on New Year's Eve,we had a big party at my mom's with my sisters' families', my brother's family, my mother-in-law, and my mom and step-dad.

My sister made this awesome balloon drop for when the big moment hit. 

We had all these balloons that the kids got to pop, and each one had a fun game or activity in it, which is what we did all night until the clock struck midnight. Some of the activities included duck duck goose, musical chairs, candy bar game, dancing, Simon says, and hide and go seek in the dark. 

This picture is hilarious of Brynn's face. She is so excited! 

Here are the kids playing duck duck goose.

And a balloon game...

And musical chairs....

And my sister and I practicing our cheerleading skills with Hannah. (This is a super gross picture of me, by the way). 

Bailey and Brynn went to bed a little early, so Hannah was the only one still awake at this point. 

Here are the older cousins that made it a little later than the younger ones. 

And here's when we rung in the new year and all the balloons dropped. 

And here is our toast to the new year. 

I've had a lot of fun new years, but I'd have to say that that one takes the cake. That was the funnest new years eve I've ever had in my life, and I hope that we can be together every year with my family for New Years. The only thing that would have made this night more complete would be if my other sister, Hollie, and her family could have been there. I love being with my whole family, and I miss them a lot.

Anyway, we got home from California and had a pretty non eventful January. Except for the fact that I got called to be the Primary President in my ward and have been really busy with that. But my girls have been jumping a lot on the trampoline they got for Christmas. We put it in our unfinished basement, and I would say it's probably the best $130 we've ever spent. And side note, my twins are always naked. 

And finally on the home stretch, Valentine's day. Thanks, again, to the Dollar Tree for providing most of the decor on this table. 

The girls woke up to some little girly presents, candy, balloons, and a note telling each one of them 10 things that we love about them. 

Hannah got those glasses (which are not prescription) for Valentine's day and a Hello Kitty watch. She still wears them every day. 

We had crepes, berries, sausage, and strawberry milk for breakfast that morning. 

I feel like Bailey and Brynn are always wearing these shirts in the pictures I've posted, but here they are in pink on Valentine's day. 

And here is Hannah in her pink outfit on Valentine's day. 

I let the girls decorate Valentine's day cupcakes with pink frosting and sprinkles. 

And here is our traditional Papa Murphys heart shaped pizza for dinner. I'm pretty sure we have certain meal traditions for every holiday. And pizza for Valentine's is one of them. 

Whew...that was a really long post! The end, for now.