Finger paints and smiles

Easton loves to do crafts and when he told me he wanted to paint, I thought Jayne might like it too...


I gave Jayne watercolor paints to start and showed her how to use a paint brush. She loved it...



Until she saw Easton using the brightly colored finger paint for his picture.



She stuck a finger in his paint, Easton giggled and the rest is history. From then on, it was finger painting and lots of smiles. Easton helped Jayne "paint" her picture the messy, fun way!



Sticky, paint covered hands mean that we have had a lot of fun! I love my sweet boy!



Jayne definitely loved painting! From now on, we will skip right to the messy, fun part!

Little Snow Shoes

We took our kids snow shoeing for the first time and had SO much fun! We told them we were just going to go up in the mountains and play around in the snow so when we got out of the car and pulled out little snow shoes for them, they were so excited! Elle got purple and Easton got some with flames on them. Elle has been begging to go for a while now and she especially loved it! She always wanted to be in the lead and was pretty disappointed when we had to turn around and head back to the car. She wanted to go to the top. (I love that determination!) Easton liked it too but his little legs got tired after a while. Jayne just loved going along for the ride in the back pack. She just smiled and kept pulling off her gloves and hat. I had to bring up the rear to pick up anything Jayne threw out. Funny little girl!

At one point hiking up, I looked over at Don and said, "This is a dream. I love this!" We were snow shoeing in the mountains on a beautiful, sunny day and I was with my favorite people in the whole world! I was so glad that the kids were happy and we were there together. It was one of those perfect moments when you just can't stop smiling.



How cute are they?













I love these pictures because it totally shows their personalities. Easton is laid back and a little cautious. He isn't really in a rush to get anywhere. Elle, on the other hand, wants to be in the lead and get there first. She is a determined little soul! Super fun day!

Happy Love Day!

I love holidays and Valentine's Day (as commercial as it may be) is no exception. Any excuse to celebrate, make a fun treat, or just do something a little extra special with the kids or Don and count me in!


How much do I love my little Valentines?


We had a fun day...


We got these cute little Valentine box lunches from Kneaders for lunch. The kids were so excited that Don got to have lunch with us.



My mom came by and brought the kids some little treats and a sweet book on being a mother for me.



And after a busy afternoon of piano practice, driving Elle to dance, baking red velvet cupcakes, and delivering Valentines to friends, we finally sat down to have our Valentine's Day dinner at 8pm. Luckily, (not really) the kids had totally filled up on candy so they didn't even complain about having dinner so late.



They each got one last little love note in their mailboxes for Valentine's Day and a small book. Of course, Elle and Easton's books were about Star Wars.



Elle is so cute with Jayne!


I got a few little surprises too. This kind of stuff puts me on cloud nine...

I love my sweet husband! Happy Valentine's Day!!!

You've got mail!

Every time we get the mail, Elle and Easton ask if there is "kid mail" for them. Who doesn't love getting mail? Well, the good kind--not the junk mail or bills. So, when I told the kids that I thought it would be fun to send little notes to each other leading up to Valentine's Day, they loved the idea! Luckily, I find my way to Target quite often and I found these fun mail boxes in the Dollar Spot. After a fun night decorating them and making them our own, our Valentine's mail boxes were complete and our kids couldn't wait to get "kid mail!" This tradition is definitely a keeper!

Decorating the boxes


Elle and Easton

Jayne and her mailbox

Checking for mail

Just a few of our "love notes"

10 years later...

Wow! I can't believe Don and I have been married 10 years! In some ways it has gone by so fast and in other ways, it seems like we have been married forever because I can't imagine life without him. We have had our ups and downs, but it has been an amazing ten years. He really is the perfect husband for me! Ten years and three kids later, I still get excited when I hear the garage door and know he is home. I am one lucky girl...


Flashback to the past--our wedding day

To celebrate, Natalie came and stayed with the kids and Don and I got to have a little overnight getaway. We had a great dinner and then went and stayed downtown at the Grand America. The next day, we had a fun breakfast and then spent the day wandering around town doing whatever we wanted--got some yummy chocolate from Hatch Family Chocolates, checked out a local art gallery and just enjoyed being together.


At the hotel



Tulips from Don (They are my fav!)



I made a book for Don of our first ten years. It was pretty funny going through old pictures. Great memories!

Star Wars Cookies

Elle and Easton LOVE Star Wars, so when my friend told me about these Star Wars cookie cutters, we just had to get them! I mean, a cookie in the shape of Darth Vader or Yoda? How cool is that?

Cutting the cookies out with dad

Let's just say, Elle and Easton loved them!

Our finished cookies--Darth Vader, Storm Troopers, Bobba Fetts, and Yodas

My special time with Jayne

Friday is a good day. Not just because it means that the weekend is almost here, but because Friday is the day I get to take Jayne to Gymboree class. It is my time with Jayne --without the distractions of home or my other kids. And we just play... I follow her lead and she shows me where she wants to go and what she wants to do--going down the slide, climbing a ladder, riding the rocking horse, playing with balls, going through tunnels, playing peek-a-boo, etc. She LOVES it! And because she loves it, I love it too! Then it is parachute time and one of Jayne's favorite activities--dance freeze. All the kids get maracas and they shake them to the music. Jayne gets so excited and just screams! When the music stops, she holds her finger up to her mouth to say, "Shhh." It is pretty cute! Then comes the bubbles--another one of Jayne's favorite things! She puts her hands in the air, claps her hands and screams for the bubbles too! Jayne definitely isn't shy about letting people know when she loves something. All the other parents look over and smile because they know Jayne loves her bubbles. She is so cute scooting around popping bubbles so carefully with her pointer finger. We sing more songs (Jayne screams "Yeah" and claps after every one), make a parachute house and then do a walking train with the kids. Then, it is time to go and all the kids say goodbye to "Gymbo" the clown. It is the cutest thing seeing them all give Gymbo a kiss. Yep, Jayne loves Gymboree and I love seeing those beautiful little almond eyes smile.

When I look back on that first class I took her to, we have come a long way. I guess I should say, I have come a long way. It was never hard for Jayne, but that first class was hard for me. It was the first time I didn't have the safety of my circle of family or friends with me and Jayne was side-by-side with typical kids her age. It was a harsh reality and made the fact that she still wasn't doing certain things very obvious. I felt like people were staring-- wondering why she wasn't walking or even crawling on her knees. And for some reason, I felt like I had to justify it. I remember almost starting to cry a few times in that first class. But I just kept reminding myself that this is for Jayne and she loves it! It doesn't matter what anyone else is thinking or how hard it might be for me. This is for Jayne and I would do anything for my sweet little girl.

Now, five months later, I don't give a second thought to what anyone else is thinking. I love seeing Jayne's face light up when I tell her we are going to Gymboree and I love every second we spend together there. Jayne is climbing, she is cruising and I know she will walk one day soon. Until then...boy can she make people smile!!! I am SO very lucky to be her momma!

I love my little girl!!!

She definitely gets around!

Playing peek-a-boo

Looking for the balls

"More balls please!"

"Look at how many I have!"

Jayne loves bubbles!

She gets so excited shaking the maracas!

Although it looks like she is eating her maraca, she is actually saying "Shhh" during the freeze part of "Dance Freeze"

Kissing Gymbo goodbye