Puppets

Jessica and I have been staying busy. Our friend taught us how to make some cute puppets that I've been wanting to try. Some of them we copied from her and some I made up. Jessica loves them. I think I like them almost as much as she does. :)

And here are some other picts of the past little while.

Jessica asleep after church - it looks so uncomfortable.


Chandler and his new teddy bear from Grandpa.


Here you can see my new haircut - I got bangs. I'm still deciding what I think.

I made it

Sorry for the hiatus in blogging. Yep, I made it to our new place. I won't be saying where that is due to privacy issues, but c'mon, if you're reading this you probably already know.

Jessica is taking her time adjusting. She LOVES her new room and new bed as well as rediscovering all of her toys and books we left behind. But she's been quite the little drama queen since we've gotten here. By the time she's adjusted it will be time for the trip down to So Cal for graduation. And just when she was actually starting to make some significant progress in the potty-training arena. *SIGH* Oh well. But hey - she is still staying dry at night.

Our life the past few days has consisted of unpacking, organizing, getting excited about the cute shoes I'd forgotten I had, trips to the zoo/park, calling Michael every hour or so, sidewalk chalk, etc, etc.

Pictures to come... eventually. Michael has my computer (he has to use a PC rather than his Mac for finals) so we'll see what happens.

Gorgeous Photos

My sister-in-law is great with Photoshop. She kindly agreed to play around with some of my pictures. I thought I share a few.

Saying Goodbye

It looks like we're leaving our place here a little earlier than expected - at least the kids and I. We decided to start trying to sell the few things we aren't going to take with us for the move, and that included Jessica's bed. We figured with all of the students around here trying to ditch stuff it would take a while to sell, so she'd only have to be sleeping on something else for a couple nights. But someone called wanting to buy it right away. Michael and I got to talking and decided that I should take the kids early (probably end of this week) and he'd stay until finals were over then fly down to LA, where he'll meet us for graduation before heading back to ID. Crazy, I know. But this way he gets plenty of time to study without distraction and Jessica gets a bed. :) (Don't worry, we wouldn't have made her sleep on the floor if we'd stayed). I already feel sick to my stomach about how much I'm going to miss Michael, but I think it'll be the best thing for his finals. I'm sooo not looking forward to that drive with the kiddos though.

Stake Easter Party

Tonight we had our Stake Easter party. Jessica loved decorating a prize bag, golfing, bowling, fishing, and the egg hunt. Her favorite part was getting a temporary tattoo on her hand. She wanted nothing to do with sitting on the Easter bunny's lap. I can't blame her, it was one of the scariest looking things I've seen in a long time. Plus I haven't mentioned the "Easter Bunny" concept to her. But I love to hear her talk about how Jesus came back to life on Easter. She is adorable when she says, "He was resurrected!" Her voice shows the excitement over the concept that we all should have. Kids are great.

Chandler

I had fun taking some pictures of Chandler this morning. He's a funny kid.

Easter Eggs, round 2

Jessica and her friend Alyssa got together the other day to dye some more Easter eggs.

These are a few of my favorite things...

~Michael~

What can I say? He's my best friend and I love him more than I could ever express adequately. He's an amazing father, a wonderful husband and the most hard-working guy I've ever known. I love you babe.

~Jessica and Chandler~
Seriously, have you seen two cuter kids? I love how much they love each other. There isn't a day that goes by that Jessica doesn't ask to hold Chandler and smother him with affection. I really think they'll be best friends.

~Cloth Diapers~
No, not in the way you are thinking. I am a VERY big fan of disposables, but there is nothing better as a burp rag than the cloth ones. Did I mention my babies are ALWAYS spitting up? It's lovely.

~Contacts~
I know I've mentioned this before, but I am the biggest fan of contacts. I feel trapped in glasses and only wear them when absolutely necessary.

~Big Hoop Earrings~
Actually pretty much any earrings I love. There's something about a pair of earrings that makes me feel so much more pretty than I would otherwise.

~Exercise Equipment~
There is something so addictive about exercise stuff. I don't use it as often as I should, but it's so fun to have. Did I mention that I found a pair of 10 lb hand weights for $1 at Goodwill the other day!? Those things are like $15 a piece normally.

~L'Oreal Double Extend Mascara~
Have you seen this? My mother-in-law gave me some and I'm not sure I can ever go back to the regular stuff. It puts these tubes over your lashes so they just pull off rather than smear off. Don't you just hate waking up to black under your eyes even though you thought you'd washed off all of your mascara? Seriously, this stuff is awesome!

~Crayola Washable Crayons~
That's right - washable crayons. 99% of the time Jessica is great about only coloring on those things she's supposed to. But that other 1% of the time is never good. A few months back I found green crayon marks on the bottom of Michael's precious TV. But Crayola makes these awesome crayons that honestly just wash right off. Amazing. They are definitely worth the extra cost.

~Digital Scrapbooking~
I love that I can get all of the stuff for free (other than printing them out). I love that I can use as many cutsie things as I want and it's, once again, free. I love that I can reuse the same page for the family scrapbook and the kid's books too. I love that I don't have to drag out a million boxes and bags of little things just to be able to work for 10 minutes on a page before something interrupts me. I'm not a super-star at it, but I will never go back to the regular way.

~The Internet~
Do I really have to explain? Yes, it can be a time-waster and obviously there's some not so good stuff out there, but I'm not sure what I did before I could Google.

~Cinnamon Crest~

Best toothpaste out there.
~Food~
Specifically, chocolate-covered cinnamon bears, Reese's Puffs cereal, Soup in a bread bowl (and the bread bowl), white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, peanut butter, chips, hmmm... I think I'm noticing a pattern. OK, I love grapes and red peppers too. Does that make me seem more healthy?

~Rubbermaid Containers and other storage solutions~
I am a storage junkie. My dream someday is to have a whole room with a bunch of shelves to just neatly store all of my neatly labeled containers. Recently I've been collecting pictures of things I want in our house someday. I swear 25% have something to do with shelving or cupboards.

~Flip-Flops~
Ahhh... I love summer. But I will wear flip-flops any time of year. I used to get the weirdest looks in high school when I's show up places in flip-flops when there was a foot of snow outside. They are so worth it, especially since Michael introduced me to Reefs. Love them.

~Twilight series and Harry Potter series books~
You can say whatever you want, I love them. The Twilight books are good, make you feel like you're 14 again, fun. And the H.P. ones are great too. I'm not even ashamed to admitt that I love the movies too.

~The Friend Magazine~
Thank you to my big sissy for getting Jessica a subscription. We could seriously spend an hour at a time reading the stories together. She loves it. I love it. It's great to see a two year old freak out when her church magazine comes.

~Thrift Stores~
I am just now realizing the possibilities if you have a little imagination and some skills. I'm think that refinishing furniture (among other things) is a skill I need to develope. Seriously, what some people can buy and with a little spray paint turn into something awesome... I hope to be that person someday.

~My BYU track sweatpants~
I am going to be so sad when these things finally wear out. They are the perfect combination of softness, bagginess, and comfyness. Love them.

I could go on and on. If you're still reading, seriously, I'm impressed. What do you love that I need to love too?

He Smiled at Me!

Finally! Chandler smiled at me this morning. There have been a few times before now where I could have sworn he was smiling, but the it was always followed by him spitting up everywhere. Lovely. But this was the real deal. This is as close as I could get in pictures from him this morning.


In other great news - Jessica woke up dry this morning! She's done it a few times before, but nothing consistent. I'm a lucky mom to have such great kiddos.