Still Dancing

Well, wasn't I a proud mom a few months back when I posted about how cute Mae was in her dance attire, all pink and leg-warmered up.  Well, boy am I proud now.  Mae had her first dance performance.  Now these are all firsts for me,  you seasoned mothers probably have been through some pretty funny ones.  I expected some wrong turns, a hat malfunction, even crying if necessary, but what Mae gave me was so much funnier.  She stood there with girls on either side just staring.  Not just looking, but she had an expression on her face like, "What in the world are you fools doing?".  Dave got mad at me because he thought she was crying but I could tell she wasn't she just was not going to dance.  My Father in law said I should get a refund on the lessons but I thought it was worth every penny that was the funniest thing I had seen in a while.  I was crying, I was laughing so hard.  And the funny thing is...She was the star of the show without lifting a toe!

Make-Up Lessons

Make-up Lessons, Make-up Lessons for a limited time only Elle has decided to offer lessons on make-up application.  She has many techniques that will get you noticed!  If you are interested just bring any brushes, shadows, creams you would like mixed and ruined.  Although a unique look, we expect her appointment book to fill up, so please book today!  

P.S.  The fees for the lesson are just the price of your favorite cosmetics.

Snow Crazy

If you ever want to feel like a kid again go jump in the snow! My girls and I were driving home on a beautiful day and I thought what the hey. So we got bundled up and headed out. I towed them up and down our street, threw snow balls at them and took some pics. Two hours later and a lot of "snow cones" they finally wanted to come in. That was so awesome I can't wait till they snowboard (but by then they will probably be too cool for mom). Oh well we had fun for now.
My little Elle was having a sweet snow picnic.

Updated

Thank you all who have commented. I got some news. My next little one could take some more time getting here. I got pregnant so fast, too fast I guess, I am no longer prego. But I know my children will come. So with that, thanks again.

On a lighter note, I have two little chicks to keep me busy. Yesterday we played in the snow for two hours. We made a lop-sided snowman and tried sledding without a hill (doesn't work that well). Maybe in a couple more years we will refine the art of snow play. We had a blast! Love my girls!

A Mother

Well, after 7+ years of trying to get pregnant, adopting our little angel Mae, 9 months and 10 days later having sweet Elle. Elle is now 2 1/2 and we are please to announce after 1 month of trying we are pregnant again! That just goes to show how important it was that we have our daughter Mae. Every time I think of how sweet she is, the blessing she is to us, I think about her birth mother "Katie". I am so grateful to her that she had the wisdom at such a young age to sacrifice her own feelings to give Mae a better life. Not because Katie couldn't love her, or wouldn't give her things. But gave Mae instead a mother, a father, a little sister and now another child who will love her. We can not imagine our lives without her. All this because one girl let herself grow in ways we will never understand. That is what I think about when I am pregnant. I am so grateful for the love of a young mother who changed our family.

I guess it is time to update. Well, we have been very busy with Thanksgiving. The one thing I am grateful for is the health of my little family. This past four weeks my friend Mindi and I have worked with many volunteers to do a Marrow drive. What that means is getting people who are willing to literally give of themselves to help save a life. It sounds like a cliche, but it has been amazing. There is a nine year old girl in our ward with leukemia and we, along with others, have been trying to help her family. If people knew how easy it was, my hope would be others would join. In case you want to know more...marrow.org. This has reminded me of how important we all are to each other, we survive sometimes through the kindness of those around us. We all have challenges and we need to not judge. Amen sister!

Witches

Well, its after Halloween and I can finally write a little about the actual holiday. I would love to talk about my witches. OK, although both of my grandmothers made dolls I'm not really a doll person. I can appreciate the detail. but somehow my whole decor for Halloween centers around these "ladies". These witches are made by a local woman who is a true artist by nature. Nettie hand pours and paints all of the witches and then makes incredible dresses out of new and vintage fabrics ( I'm a sucker for fabric of any kind especially vintage). They're all one of a kind and have bobbles and potions hanging from them. The first two of these was given as a gift from my wonderful mother-in-law, Lis. At my front table you are greeted by the "Pumpkin Witch" who loves obviously pumpkins.



Then on my bakers rack the "Kitty Witch" (a.k.a. crazy cat lady) swings ready for any stray to jump up and have safe refuge with her and her feline friends (mostly black).



Next in my dinning room we have the woodland witch who likes the creepy crawlies and all matter of wild creatures. My girls got so excited to bring out the witches and it was so nice to not have gross stuff that they are scared of.



This year I had Nettie bring her witches to my house so my friends could buy some and Mae was so excited she wanted a picture with them, she looks almost the same size.



Also this year I had a "Witches Night In" party. It was so fun everyone came dressed in a hat, cape, or as themselves. We just hung out and exchanged spells. It was our first annual, can't wait till next year.



Lastly just a reminder, no matter how tempting, do not eat the witches treats, it's always a trick!

Spooky

This is our poopee house at night. Our little pink mummies can't really say spooky, I think poopee is funnier anyways. If it looks like Elle's wrap is on fire, it's just an illusion. Happy Halloween!

Guilty Pleasure

Our family has a guilty pleasure. Its Halloween. When I say Halloween I mean we go crazy. Our front entry you might get eaten by a giant Spider. At night there is a black light and strobe too.






When you come inside there is garland but not shiny holiday fluff, its black with orange and purple lights.

We replace our entryway chandelier with black light bulbs and drape it with "cobwebs".

Not to mention every surface (that the girls can't reach) is lit, draped or decorated. I think we need an intervention, but we really like it.

I was going to write this long story about our trip to Cali and Disneyland, but honestly I'm not that much of a writer.  I really think Elles faces says it all in this picture at the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki room.

Mae's third birthday sure was fabulous (thats a fancy word for great!).  She really wanted a mermaid party but it just wasn't warm enough.  So as I brainstormed through Target thinking mermaid, mermaid, mer-wait, down on the bottom shelf lay my answer at $1.69.  Thank you Fancy Nancy!  

We had the most delectable, smallest buffet you have ever seen.  With fondue and hors d'oeuvre (thats fancy for small).  The girls just went for it with lemonade and ice water they could pour and play.  

And with monogrammed cupcakes for the little darlings.  Everyone felt special (& fancy).

Fancy parties call for fancy sparkle candles.

But best of all was the fun our little three year old had.  I can't believe I'm so blessed (thats fancy for lucky).

Living Every Little Girls Dream

What a time of year with school starting and starting new classes, like Ballet. Well we live in a place in Utah called Utah County. Living in Utah County has several good things but also some challanges. Not the obvious ones like traffic or 90% Mormon, (no offense it does cause some challanges). But the ones you won't think of like schools not taking kids 8 days early to start school, or brand new schools already having trailers to house all the students. Lets talk about dance class. We are in a valley with not much else around counting Salt Lake (The Big City), so when you go to buy, lets say size 9 1/2 tap shoes you might be going, calling and looking online in 7 different stores. Then you get to try on the wrong sizes and have your daughters freaking out because they want ballet flats and taps so you promise at the next store. You also don't want to be late purchasing your items. Even the dance studio is sold out! Finally we just drove to San Diego (we were going anyways). We learned a lesson about living in an area where you better be prepared, even for dance class. Look at the results of all our work!

And now our oldest ( LOL, at 3), can live every little girl dream of being a balleterina!

The Apple of our Eyes

Ok, I am a realist. I know it is only Pre-Pre K but look how cute Mae is on her first day of school. And she had a friend to go with, Double cute!

Dreams Really Do Come True

This is personal but I wanted to write about it. About eight years ago I got this old poster frame from one of the fun centers. It was dark green and black with Gothic painting and roman numerals on it. As we moved around we dragged it too. Dave voiced his opinion of it many times. Basically he didn't like it, so I would defend it stating my vision of a fairy tale castle with a little girl looking at herself in it. Finally I repainted it, put a mirror in it and as I was getting ready to hang it I had it leaning against Mae's bed, I look over and she is looking at herself. At that moment I realized how suddenly things happen and when you look around dreams come true and hopes are fulfilled. Thats why hope is so important. So I decided I had to have a reminder of this so I had the girls pictures taken in it! Dream Big!

Elles birthday was this month. We had a fairy party with some family and girls from the ward. It was so cute. Of course we went over the top but its so easy when you love what your doing. We had fairy wands to eat, white chocolate dragonflies and chocolate bird nests along with other food, fruit and sandwiches. The girls had fun flying around and playing games, but next time I think I need more games. It turned out really cute.

Finally we completed our playroom in the basement. Its a beach side retreat, complete with beach cottage and undersea lounge and of course the "water slide".


The opposite side of the beach cottage is our craft hut, with craft supplies (play dough and crayons at the minute) and fully locked cabinets with all your messiest projects. Mommy helps when its time.


And the playhouse has lights the kids can turn on and off and dramatic colors for the puppet stage which can't be seen in this picture (part of the under sea lounge).


Inside the beach cottage it hasn't been decorated since the 50's but we liked the charm so we keep the curtains. And of course what beach cottage wouldn't be complete without a fully stocked kitchen. Now you can reserve your weekend here at the sea of toys. Just call for details!!

Thought I would finally liven up this site. I must say when my daughter rides she does it in style. The only thing missing are the heels. That's how WE roll!

Not to be a downer, but our grandfather passed away just before Easter. Joel, Shannon and I went to Virginia to his funeral March 24-26. It was sad to say goodbye to someone you wished you had more time with. Life is fragile and time keeps passing and there really is not a lot of time for regrets. It was quite amazing to go to the place he is buried and see such vivid beauty and peace contrasted with such sharp sadness.

Stepp'in Up

Ya, you know it, we are all up and blogging baby. I don't expect too much considering my current state of crazy not to mention my two little sassys taking all kinds of attention (you know kids really are a lot of feeding and watering). My favorite right now is the princess deal. Every shoe (including Daves), any necklace, phone, sunglasses or dress is "a princess" whatever it happens to be. The funniest thing was the other day while the girls and I were shopping, there was a little girl all dressed up princess from shoes to even the pointy princess hat (all pink of course). Well Mae noticed right away and was very excited. So I said to her, "Look at the pretty princess Mae". And she got really excited again and said, " No mom, a witch!", and then, "Look mommy a witch!". The little girl looked pretty miffed, so in trying to be nice I tried to explain to Mae how princesses wear pink and witches wear black. I don't know, it just sounded logical. A few hours later I realized I wear a lot of black. So now I am just waiting for the comment when we are out, "Mommy your a real witch!". Like I said, just waiting.

Disney World

This was our November Disney World trip. It was fun before, but so much more with the girls. They were awesome, our little travelers.

Why I Stink @ This

Yes pictures are coming, Yes I will write more than one sentence. One problem. I stink at this. My pictures are too big. My writings are too small and my music, well how do I do that? I need extra time and a lesson from Jessa. Oh you say, its soo easy anyone can do it. Well I guess I'm the "special one". We will be out of town in S.D. for a week so maybe after that I can get it together. Maybe.

Summer Dreams in Mid-Winter

Oh the days of summer. The Tu-tus, beads and oh yea the Sun.