He keeps me smiling

That is just one reason that makes me so glad that I get to call Matt my husband.

In March my sister Kristin, her family and my niece Kayla came for a weekend visit. One day we took the kids to the park by my Mom's house. Bailee and Owen insisted on bringing the scooters. Of course they got tired of them quickly and we ended up carrying them about half way there. Matt was running back to the house for something and I asked him to take the scooters with him. Of course he didn't carry them...he rode them. He got some funny looks from the people at the park, but he got a smile out of me. I love that he can be a big kid when it unexpected. He adds that little bit of spice to my days.

Friend Fun

Last September my awesome friend Anna watched our kids for three days. So we got to return the favor last week. We had lots of fun with their kids. Bailee and Even had so much fun playing family and all sorts of other games.

Lunchtime Surprise

A few weeks ago Matt came home at lunch to get something he needed. Bailee and Owen were delighted to seed their Dad in the middle of the day. They were in heaven when he went out and jumped on the nearly finished trampoline with them.

Bed Time Stories

Bailee loves to "read" to Owen at bedtime. It is so sweet. I finally got a picture of it. I hope that they always like to spend quite moments together.

A beautiful Mess

The other day I had a debilitating headache, I finally gave in to it and told Bailee that I was going to have to lay down and rest. she could tell that I was not feeling well and offered so sweetly to help do some of the things on my "To Do" list. One of the things she did for me was fold the load of towels. Isn't it a Beautiful Mess? what a sweet little girl I have. Words can not express how much I love her. She is truly a blessing in my life.

Gethsemane

A friend of mine sent this to me. I wanted to give everyone I know an opportunity to see it.

I have a testimony that Jesus Christ suffered and died for each of us. I am so thankful for this gift that he gave to me and each of us so that we could have a way back to our Father in Heaven that loves us all so much. I know that I can repent for my wrong doings and so can everyone. Our Father loves each of us so much that he gave his only begotten Son so that we can repent. I am so thankful for my Savior.

Learning

Bailee is so excited to get to start school, but she has to wait one more year because her birthday falls a mere 8 days after the cut of for kindergarten. So we will start her in Preschool in September, but for now to fill her little eager brain we have been doing worksheets. I started with some simple ones that I found at the Dollar store, but she was going through them so fast that I knew that I had to find something else. My friend told me about one she had seen from Walmart and I picked it up while we were in Arizona this past November. It has been great and yes, it is March and we are still only half way through it! Bailee loved having it in Arizona, she would sit and work on it while her older cousins, Brandon and Noah would do their homework after school.

I Love that Bailee loves learning. She can write most of her letters and is starting to figure out a few words. It is so exciting to watcher the little wheels in her brain turn.

Sugar Addict

Our Owen can smell sugar from a mile away. He loves anything sweet and will sneak it if necessary.

So sweet

I took this picture after Jack's Party. Bailee and Owen insisted on pushing Steph back to her room. So cute.

Jack's Birthday

Matt's sister Stephanie has been in the hospital since January and unfortunately her son Jack's first birthday happened to fall during her stay. Since she was unable to make him the cake and have the party she had planned on she gave me the honor of making his first birthday cake for the party we were to have at the hospital.

Stephanie had planned on a jungle theme, so I went with that and did a monkey cake. I also made cake balls with little Bananas on top.

We had a fun time at Jack's party. Matt and I went to the hospital early so I could do Steph's Hair and make up.

These are the ties that I made for Jack. I got this cute pattern here .

Confessions of a cook

So over the years I have really improved on my cooking. I have always enjoyed cooking and trying new things. I can make almost anything if I try and allow myself the proper amount of time.
However there are a few things that I can not make and fail almost every time I try. That is things out of a box! It has been a long standing joke at our house that I can't make Pasta Roni...believe me I have tried many times over the years and more often than not it fails. Well I have been keeping this one in the closet but after last nights disaster I think it is time to come clean. I can't make Jello either.
For those of you that were at last night's Blue and Gold Banquet and saw the jello mush and felt bad that no one took any (and I mean NO ONE) not even me. It was mine. Go ahead...Laugh because I am. Don't feel bad, I think it is hilarious.
So from now on I think that I will stick to making things from scratch and steer clear of the boxed foods. The only Jello you will find at my house is the jello that goes in Grandma's Lemon Cake.

I love you...

Seven years ago Matt and I shared our first Valentine's Day and it was a day I will never forget. Matt had a dozen roses delivered to me at work and then surprised me with a few other sweet gifts when I got home. Because of our work scheduled we were not able to see each other that day. Matt was working grave yard that night so I went and heart attacked his room and delivered my gift so it would be there when he got home in the morning. I surprised him by being at his apartment when he got home. I hid in his office until he had seen all of my gifts and had read my card. At the end of what I wrote I told him to look out his bedroom door... I was standing there. It was in that moment that I knew that I was in trouble if this relationship didn't last. When he looked at me that morning I felt like I was going to melt. I didn't tell him then, but I want to tell him right then that I loved him.

I can't even describe how much love is in our home. But I can write a few things that I love about my wonderful husband.

I love that he calls me "love".
I love that he knows when to let me be and when I need to be hugged and taken care of.
I love that he can always bring me back to reality when I am being completely irrational, but waits until I have had a chance to be irrational for a bit. ( I am sure it is because it just makes him laugh)
I love that because of him I am becoming a person that I never dreamed I could be.
I love that he does what it takes to provide for our family.
I love watching him play with our kids.
I love that he is sensitive at times and will shed a tear or two when something is really important to him.
I love his willingness to serve the lord.
I love that he loves those he serves with all of his heart.
I love that he can always make me laugh and does his best not to make me cry.

I love you Matt. Happy Valentine's Day. I can't wait for the next seven years with you.

GUESS WHO IS 2!!

I can Hardly believe that it has been two years that we have had out little monkey in our family. He is such a joy. I love this little man.
We had a little birthday party for him on his birthday at Matt's parents house while we were there for Christmas. I also like to call Owen our little cookie monster, that was one of his first words and one of his favorite treats. So instead of cake we made him a GIANT cookie. He though that was pretty neat. I want to put down a few things about Owen at 2 years old.
Things that he loves: Daddy, Shoes, Dinosaurs, anything with sugar, all ladies that he thinks look like GG, he loves GG, his BSU blankie, his cow and horse, riding his bike, climbing, baths, and he thinks that he needs to take his backpack any time we leave the house.
Things he doesn't like: Having his PJ's taken off (screaming fits), or having his coat taken off (napping in it right now) kisses right after he wakes up, green beans from a can, when his sister makes him do anything, and when anyone touches the above mentioned loved things.

For the most part he is a pretty happy going kiddo. We just love your little man to pieces.

Big Boy

Matt took the front of Owen's crib off yesterday since he climbs out anyway. We are beginning the transition to the big boy bed. I can hardly believe that our little monkey is two and growing up so fast.

She keeps me laughing

Yesterday during Sacrament meeting Bailee and I were looking at the pictures in my Gospel Principles manual to help her keep quiet and to help her remember why we have the sacrament. We came to a picture and she asked who it was, I wasn't sure an there was no caption so I looked at the adjacent page and it was talking about the prophet Abraham. I took a guess and told her that it was Abraham. Her eyes lit up and she said to me "Hey! We know that song!" I was a little confused and then she proceeded to start singing "Father Abraham had seven sons..." I was trying to so hard not to bust up laughing while I explained that the Father Abraham song wasn't about the Prophet Abraham.