Awwww...

Melting....

My boys...and a bug...

This is a story....about a boy, a daddy, and plastic BUG! *********************
It all started last August.
We went to my brother-in-laws house for an afternoon of play, and a BBQ.
For fun, they had all of these plastic bugs sitting in the fruit bowl, and chip bowls etc. The kids thought it was funny, which I assume was the point.
After spending the whole day there, when we went to leave, my brother-in-law, Christopher, slipped Tyler a plastic cockroach, and told him to hide it in daddy's bed.

So, he did. When Kevin found it, he returned the favor by hiding it in Tyler's bed. This has now gone on for 7 months.
Not every single night....but A LOT of them!

It is a game of challenge, and wits. A game that Tyler finds to be THE very best thing EVER! It started with pillows, and sheets, but has spread to current reading books, shoes, and even under the alarm clock. Tyler even waits until after we have said goodnight, and tucked him in and then goes in a hides it, so that it isn't expected or found until we actually go to bed.

So one day.... We found this note... and have LITERALLY not stopped laughing.
Every time we talk about it, we still both tear up.
He left it WITH the cockroach in our bed, under Kevin's pillow.
It was as though he didn't think we would know it was from him, being that it is written in the third person. :)

There is something about the magic of innocence that makes life so fun.
So rewarding!
So beautiful.

These two boys....
don't know...
AT ALL...
What I would do without them!!!

Spring Art

We did some art today...
Bright pretty colors, creative juices, smiles.
It widdled away a good hour...
Spring break days starts getting a little bit hairy in the afternoon hours...so finding something for my littles to take their mind off of bickering, and instead focus on interacting and laughing together...
That is my idea of a GOOD day!

We made these "puff paints".
Simply made from one tablespoon flour, one tablespoon salt, and a little water to make a thick creamy "paint". They can be colored how ever you want to color them.

Then use Qtips, and paint your design on thick paper.
Finally, microwave for 30 seconds.

They puff up.

The kids LOVED it!
They had a great time painting away, using every color time and time again.

Their projects turned out so cute!

They were really proud of them.

Truth is, this spring break has actually been nice. Very, very relaxing. Everyone has been a bit under the weather...so we have just been snuggling on the couch, playing board games, coloring, watching shows, doing art.
Sometimes, it is just nice, to do nothing!
It was a fun afternoon with the kids.

Beyond...

Beautiful!

Supermoon, March 19, 2011
Biggest full moon since 1993.
It sure made me feel small in this great big world of ours!
Gorgeous!

Melting

Nothing really makes me feel more important...
more loved...
more honored...


Me.
I am simply a developing body walking around doing the very best that I can at any given moment.
Soaking in everything I can. Making mistakes, learning from them, and doing better the next time.
Meandering through my world...
My magical, peaceful, chaos...every minute unpredictable. Some so difficult...most however, are beauty wrapped in glitter.
I have a hundred things on my endless to do list, and I am almost always busy. Everything,
and I mean EVERYTHING...
Dulls in comparison,
To things like this....

A painting by my daughter.
She and I, are "watching a rainbow".
Truth be told,
She and I could do anything at all and in that moment, I would be hers forever.
I am hers forever.

A letter from a boy...

Tyler just loves his cousin Tanner.
My sister and their family live in Arizona...so we only see them once a year or so.
However, Ty doesn't forget...and often...

He randomly comes out with a drawing, or a letter, or a book he has made for Tanner.
Here is his lastest one.
It is so funny and adorable.
I can't read it without breaking into tears.
(as an explanation....Tanner calls everyone Hobo. He got it from the Nickelodeon show, I-Carly. Tyler just thinks it is hillarious...and somehow over the last year, it has just stuck as Tanners name of adoration from Tyler. :))

I just love, that even though they have never lived close...and have never had major amounts of time to bond...that they just love each other.
It makes me very happy that Tyler just randomly thinks of him.
I have such a nice little boy.

He makes me so happy!
I love you!

My Helper

Makylie and I decided to make some Weight Watchers chocolate, butterscotch cookies for daddy, before he comes home tomorrow.
She pretty much made the entire recipe with very little help from me.

She absolutely LOVES to help me cook.
I think...she will probably be pretty good at it too.

She is just loaded with patience, and an enthusiasm for learning every aspect of everything that I can teach her at her age.
She wants to do everything....
Even the parts that are hard for her young dexterity.

She lost interest for most of the cookie roll out.....
Because, who really wants to put in the time if you still have to wait for them to bake. :)
She did come back at the end...and acted like she had done it all herself. :)

Notice the jammies??? We like to stay in our PJ's on Thursdays. She goes to schoool Monday through Wednesday...and then Thursday...after a long first half of the week, she still needs a nap to catch-up.
So....we have made them Pajama Day!
She loves it!

I really love to make the memories.
I hope I am passing down my love for cooking and baking.
But most of all....I just love my girly!
Anything I can do to make her smile...makes me happy.
Thank you for helping me!

One Brave Girl...

In October, Kevin and Ty took a little trip together.

Karman was at a preliminary debate tournament.

So Makylie and I had a girly Saturday.

It was so much fun!

We painted nails, and she picked a movie, and we made sundaes!

We pretty much did anything that she wanted to do.

That is exactly the kind of weekend I wanted to have!

So on Saturday....before her soccer game...we took a trip to the mall,

Look what we did while we were there...

Despite how it looks....she was SUPER excited! With a little scared mixed in...

She had her baby, and a stuffed animal in hand...

The lady asked her to stay still, and still that girl stayed.

The woman said she has never seen a four year old listen so well. She literally didn't move.
Then they marked her ears...

AND...

She looked like that!

They have the ability here, to do both ears at once...with two piercers.

So they do that for little ones...or anyone who requests it.

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She barely even flinched.

I expected tears.....lots of tears.

because as much as she has wanted her ears pierced for months.....

It.Still.Hurts!

But she is a brave little thing!

And she LOVES her Hello Kitty earrings!
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Then we went to her soccer game

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We ended the evening, watching Marmaduke and eating sundaes

Then painting nails, and reading books.

And starring, many many, many many times at ourselves in the mirror to see if our new earrings are just as pretty as we are sure they are!

For the record...

we spent the next day doing the same thing thing too.

"Mommy, can you take my picture...can you see my earrings?"

"Wait"

"I can't see them, take another please"

And, Little Girl,

I did it all for you!

TEN YEARS!!!

Ten years ago today, I married my best friend.
I don't say that lightly either.
I am a stronger person because of him.
We are stronger because of each other.

Last night...I sat, like I do so many nights, and starred at this man who made my life so amazing, while he slept. He didn't even know he was making my life better as we trucked along together...but over the years he has.

(He proposed to me in Stanley Park in Vancouver BC, 1999.)

(And this, is the peacock that chased us right afterward.)

Looking back, we were just kids. (no really, look at us). We are so different now. Our cores are the same of course...the things that made us fall in love...but we are so much stronger...so much better now. We have grown so much, matured so much.
(June 25, 2000)

Ten years seems like nothing now. I have noticed that as we have gotten older, the distance of time has changed. What used to seem like a lifetime, now feels like the blink of an eye. Seriously...

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So Kevin and I met in high school...doing drama. I fell for him, as it didn't take long for me to realize that he was reliable and trustworthy, smart and very hard working.

(This is us in 1995)

We started dating when I was just a junior.

We have been together now, for 16 years.

I am 33...so we have almost been together for as long as we weren't.

Yet it feels like it was all just yesterday! I mean it really does.

Our vows were 10 years ago...but it feels like it all just happened. And yet, at the same time, it feels as though we have been together forever. Does that make any sense???

I sometimes don't know, how we have gotten from point A to point B.

There have been so many obstacles...some that at the time, seemed so unsurmountable...but we persevered...we will always perseverve.

We went through the typical youthful relationship issues.

Not having enough money...trying so hard to make ends meet...

In the end, looking back...it made us better. All of it. It was hard, but it made us the people...the couple that we are today.

I know people say all of the time that their spouse is their best friend...

Mine truly is.

I honestly do not know what I would be without him.
I just adore him.

I love that we have come to the point where things are just not so serious anymore. There is an unspoken trust and bond.

I am proud we are married...that we communicate and touch, laugh and smile, disagree and work through those disagreements...that at the end of the day, I can still say he is my favorite person to talk to, to laugh with, to watch tv with...anything.

I know a lot of people who are not so fortunate.

He just gets me.

I get him.

He is my safe place.

Happy Tenth Babe...can't wait for the next!

Christmas 2009

What a beautiful day.
I adore the feeling of Christmas, the happiness, the warmth...the tradition.

This is our traditional Christmas Eve Picture.
The kids were all dressed up for dinner at Grandma's. We got home just in time to open one present, get some cookies ready for the big guy, and read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.

(This is our gingerbread house that the kids made...(just thought I would throw it in here))

So, on Christmas Eve night, the kids always get to open one present...the present is always pajamas and the kids know it, and love it! It has been a tradition since Karman was little. Then they go put on their jammies, and wear them to bed, and then ALL DAY on Christmas!

Then we got some cookies ready for Santa because we knew that he would be hungry by the time he got to our house. We left him some milk too, even though he told us in his letter that he has a hot cocoa machine on his sled now...Tyler thought he might be thirsty for some actual milk by the time he got to our house, and of course carrots for the reindeer.

We read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and got ready for the big night!

Then mommy and daddy wrapped what was left to be wrapped, and got a few other things done....and we headed to bed too.

The next morning...Santa had come!

The kids were so so excited!

They get to come out and open their stocking while we make our traditional breakfast.

Every single year we make breakfast rolls from scratch, and an egg casserole. It is so good, and the kids absolutely love it!

Izzy opened her stocking which was pretty good entertainment.

She's so cute!

She took to opening as if she does it every day.

And she was a happy girl.

She got it open, and this where she laid for the rest of Christmas morning...chewing away!

The kids had a great Christmas. Santa brought them each just what they wanted!

Among them, Karman got her high school gear, and a new MP3 player...

Makylie got her talking doll house, and Littlest Pet Shop toys...

And Tyler got his Imaginext Batman cave, LEGOS!

This was, for Tyler, the year of the Lego. He has discovered that he LOVES Legos! He got some from almost everyone, and he has been working non stop on them ever since...he even got a Lego Batman Wii game from Santa...

Daddy loves them about as much as Tyler.

It was a great year. I am so Thankful.

Kevin and I are trying to pass down tradition, so that some day, when the kids are all grown, they say..."I remember every year we"...or "I remember when"...and then hopefully hear that they were so important to them that they continue the traditions with their own families.

To me, this is a season all about tradition...and the richness that those traditions add to our family story. It is so important to me.

We have so much to be thankful for, and we are.

We hope everyone also had a wonderful Christmas,

and we wish everyone an amazing New Year!